Escaping Destiny
by Elayna Fournier
Summary: Sirius Black has attended Durmstrang for 4 years and now in his 5th year, he attends Hogwarts, trying to escape from the person he was born to be.
1. Chapter 1

**Escaping Destiny**

Chapter 1

The Hogwarts Express waited patiently in the station, waiting for the time that it would be able to take off. Students were milling around the platform with parents and friends, each with luggage most with owls, cats, or other various pets.

One particular group of boys stood out. One stood tall with messy black hair and glasses. His hazel eyes were sparkling with mischief as he spoke to his friends. Another of the boys had light brown hair and golden eyes. He stood with a tired demeanor and looked fairly ragged. The third boy was shorter than the other two and seemed slightly withdrawn. His blond hair was plastered to his head with gel and his blue eyes seemed slightly dull.

Each of these boys were in their fifth year. James Potter, Remus Lupin, and Peter Pettigrew were their names and they were such close friends that they could have been brothers. Each of these boys were incredibly intelligent, although Peter really had to work hard to keep up with James and Remus. They also all really enjoyed pranking, only to different extremities.

James enjoyed a good prank against anyone, although he mainly limited it to the Slytherins and especially Severus Snape. And not only did he extremely enjoy pranks, but he also didn't really care if he got in any trouble. As such, he went to unnecessary extremes for a good laugh. James was the one who usually carried out the pranks. Sure Remus and Peter helped, but when it came to execution, it was all James Potter, baby.

Remus liked pranks as well, although he was more reserved about them than James was. He enjoyed having fun, but he also thought that sometimes they went too far. Like that one time with Snape in the Great Hall when he randomly stood up and starting singing random love songs, using a vegetable as a microphone. Anyways, he was usually the mastermind behind the pranks. The one who made them as close to being flawless as they possibly could. No one could perfect a plan, and a back-up plan, like Remus Lupin.

Peter was a different case entirely. He actually didn't care for pranks. He was just as content sitting in the Gryffindor common room playing exploding snap with James or Remus. He looked up to the two boys and did almost anything that they wanted him to. Unless food got in the way. If he had to chose, Peter would chose food over pranks any day. But he was a good sidekick. He was the one that usually got the assignments that the other two didn't want. Like being the lookout, for example. Of course, he tended to be more of a hindrance than help when it came down to the actual pranks, but his presence was still greatly appreciated by the other two Gryffindors.

They had been friends since their first year when they had met on the Hogwarts Express, which they finally decided to board. Over the past four years, the three had managed to become stronger and better friends, refusing to betray or abandon each other. When they had found about Remus's "condition", they had promised to keep his secret and remain his best friend. When James fell in love with Lily Evans in his third year, the other two boys did everything they possibly could to get the two together, even if it was completely in vain as of right now. And when Peter's mom died, they supported him by attending the funeral with him and giving him two sturdy shoulders to cry on.

Yes, they tried to be there for each other no matter what. They sometimes fought like all friends but they usually didn't last long. They sometimes went to bed hating the other's guts, but the feeling usually evaporated over night. They sometimes got tired of each other, but their intense love for each other usually drowned out that emotion. Yes, they were good friends. Best of friends. Brothers, really. And that's how they liked it.

There was another person who stood out on the platform, looking lost, confused, angry, and mildly hurt. He stared about, looking at all of the friends and parents around him and felt a stab of jealousy. His dark black hair fell across his face, covering one of his grey eyes and half hiding the other one. He held himself stiffly and haughtily.

This was Sirius Black. He was the heir of the Black family fortune, which would have been fine except he didn't want it. Should he? After all, with the family fortune and name came the obsessive mudblood hating and insane dark magic. That was something Sirius hated, something that he didn't want it. It was a power that he had never wanted.

Of course, his parents thought that they could train Sirius to desire the money, title, and power. As such, they sent the unfortunate boy to Durmstrang, a school that more or less officially taught dark magic. And of course, Sirius didn't find this to his liking. So he did what was natural. He wreaked havoc all around the school until, finally, at the end of his fourth year, he was expelled. Overjoyed, Sirius managed to convince his parents that he would be better off at Hogwarts than just completely ending his education. And that would bring him at the platform.

His parents weren't normal parents though. They didn't love him, they loved their money. They didn't want him, they wanted their power. They didn't care about his welfare, they cared about destroying all mudbloods on the planet. As such, Sirius had been unceremoniously dumped at the station, angry and hurt at his parents' lack of love. But he was used to by now. After fifteen years, one tends to adapt to environments. And he had adapted to his cold, unloving parents, brother, and house.

Sirius sighed and pushed his black hair out of his eyes. He might as well board now. He wasn't doing any good just standing there and his feet were starting to hurt his feet, considering his shoes were too small. Again. So he began to head to the train, wondering if he would have real friends who really cared for him. At Durmstrang he had friends, but only friends who cared about his title and money. Considering those were the two things in his life that he hated most, he resented their friendship.

And so he boarded the train, wondering. What was going to happen to him? Would everyone freak out when they realized that he was a Black? Probably. One can't have the darkest wizard family without getting some kind of a reaction of dislike. He wondered what house he would be in, praying above all prayers that he would not get into Slytherin. But he knew that the chances were slim. After all, one cannot escape his destiny.

A.N. A new story. A new set of readers? I hope so. Please read it and if you do read it, please review. Thanks a bunch.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Sirius boarded the train, dragging his huge trunk behind him, wishing that he hadn't needed to bring all of the Slytherin paraphernalia. It wasn't as though he would actually use it. Even if he was sorted into Slytherin, he intended to burn all of the Slytherin things. Which probably wouldn't be too good, but he didn't care. He hated it all. Why show pride and spirit for something he positively loathed with his entire being?

Sirius began to aimlessly wander around the train, trying to find a place to sit during the ride. He didn't know anyone and being a fifth year already, that was an incredible disadvantage. Everyone already had their friends; everyone already had their little groups of people. Who would want to add another person to their clique? Especially someone with the reputation that Sirius already seemed to have.

While Sirius was wandering around, James, Remus, and Peter were settling into their compartment and chatting. This was commonplace among the three boys. They would find a compartment, update each other on their lives, which took about five minutes, played a game of wizards' chess or exploding snap, and then took naps alternatively, and ate food. Now, however, James was in a gossipy mood.

"I heard that the Black's eldest son will be going to Hogwarts this year," said James, sounding almost mystical. Remus laughed and rolled his eyes as he rummaged around in his trunk for a book to read.

"You listen to too many rumors. There's not a chance in the world that Sirius Black will be attending Hogwarts this year. His family wants him embedded in dark magic, so naturally he'll still be attending Durmstrang."

James shrugged as he glanced out his window and then looked back. "I don't know. I'm just going off of what my dad heard in the office the other day. I guess Sirius was expelled for…something. My dad didn't say what."

Peter rolled his eyes too and pulled out something to munch on. Personally, he thought that rumors were overrated so he was not amused in the slightest bit by James's news. "Who cares," he muttered, "either way he's going to be a big Slytherin pain. He's the kind of person that I think I just want to avoid."

James nodded in agreement. The Blacks were not to be trusted. It was just common sense. Remus didn't say anything, just hid behind his book, but James could see the disapproving glare through the book and suppressed a sigh. He knew that Remus hated people judging others before they actually knew them. But who in their right mind would trust a person from one of the darkest wizarding families in Europe?

Just then the door opened and a boy with shoulder length black hair walked in. He glanced around at the three boys and then slowly smiled. "Hey, you guys, I was wondering if I could sit with you. Not many other compartments have room for someone else and those that do don't want me there." A hopeful expression flashed across his face.

James, Remus, and Peter just stared up at the boy with the intense grey eyes before numbly nodding. No had ever intruded on their solitude before. This was certainly new. James had a sneaking suspicion that this was the Black heir. He certainly hoped not because this guy looked alright.

"I'm James Potter," James introduced as Sirius got settled in the compartment, "and this is Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew."

They both waved as James said their name and looked at him expectantly, waiting for him to introduce himself. Sirius, however, had felt his blood go cold as soon as James had said his last name. It was common knowledge that the Potters and Blacks did not get along and while Sirius couldn't have cared less, he had a feeling that James would.

"I'm Sirius Black," Sirius finally said, wishing that he had had the sense to sit with the first years. First years tended to be nicer and less dangerous should you anger them.

An awkward silence fell in the compartment as James, Remus, and Peter turned to look at him with strange expressions on their faces. James seemed to have a cold expression, Remus looked accepting, and Peter was battling between having a cold and accepting expression on his face. Sirius quirked his eyebrows at Peter, but turned back to the other two.

Finally, James spat out, "Why don't you go sit with your Slytherin friends, Black?"

Sirius took a step back at the malice in James's voice, but didn't protest as he left the compartment. Yep, this was definitely a bad way to start the school year.

"James! Why did you do that?" roared Remus angrily. The way that he had just shoved Black out the door reminded him of the many times that he had been shunned because of his condition.

"He's a Black," James simply stated, as if it explained everything. And in his mind it did. There was no doubt in his mind that Sirius would become a Slytherin. It was just how things were.

Sirius wandered down the length of the train again, this time stopping at the compartment that he knew to belong to prestigious Slytherins. Sure enough, as he pulled the door open, the eyes of Lucius Malfoy, Severus Snape, and Bellatrix and Narcissa Black (his _darling_ cousins). Stifling a sigh, Sirius walked in and gave a very forced smile.

Everyone in the compartment stared at him, a mild array of disbelief showing on all of their faces.

"Black," Lucius said, standing and grabbing the handle to Sirius's trunk, pulling it in and putting it up onto a rack while Bellatrix motioned for Snape to scoot over to make room for Sirius to sit. Hesitantly, Sirius took the seat and gazed around at the Slytherins, who, in turn, were staring at him.

"Um…hey, guys," mumbled Sirius. He should have known that this would happen. He was the heir of the Black fortune. Of course they wanted to be friends with him. Every pureblood did. Well, at least the ones who weren't blood traitors.

"Hi, Black," Malfoy said, relaxing back into his seat, his eyes never leaving Sirius's face.

_Damn it,_ thought Sirius angrily,_ I'd better not get sorted into Slytherin or I'll go insane_. Though he had been sent to Durmstrang so that he would come to love the dark arts, the school had only made him hate them more. He had picked up some bad habits though.

At Durmstrang, muggles were known as mudbloods, and nothing else. Dark arts were highly emphasized and if a person ever refused to perform a duty, they would be sent straight to the Headmaster's office for…punishment.

Sirius shuddered slightly at that thought. Once again, four pairs of eyes turned to look at him, each blank.

"Is everything alright, Black?" asked Snape.

Sirius nodded and the four Slytherins began their conversations again. Sirius listened for a moment but soon grew tired of the anti-muggles propaganda and tuned them out.

A new worry had filled Sirius after his encounter with the three Gryffindor boys. Even should he be sorted into Gryffindor, would the others be nice enough to give him a chance, or would they keep up their anti-Black opinions?

_Ah well_, Sirius though dejectedly. _I'm not here to make friends. I'm here to finish my education and then be the Black heir. That's who I've been raised to be, and that's who I might as well be. Oh joy…_

A.N. Thanks for reviewing. I wasn't expecting that many readers. It's really awesome! Thanks again! Should he be in Slytherin or Gryffindor (think of the sake of the story)? Please review. Thanks again.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

The train pulled into the station in Hogsmeade slowly. The students on the train began to gather up their items and look out the windows. First years wandered around aimlessly in confusion, following the older students.

In their compartment, James, Remus, and Peter all stood up and began to leave the train. All around them people were pushing impatiently and somewhat angrily. James rolled his eyes and managed to get off of the train, standing by while he waited for Remus and Peter to join him. As he stood there, he watched as Black got off a little bit ahead of him, accompanied by Lucius Malfoy, Severus Snape, and the Black sisters, Bellatrix and Narcissa. James sneered at them from his position before turning his attention to his friends who finally managed to get over to him.

Remus, who had followed James's gaze over to the Slytherins, frowned slightly. "You know," he muttered in James's ear, "he might not be that bad."

James, in return, turned to scowl at his friend. "That one has Slytherin written all over his future. I honestly would think that the sorting hat was broken should he be sorted anywhere else."

Peter furrowed his eyebrows and looked at James as if he had lost his mind. "That would mean that any of us could have been sorted wrong. I mean, a lot of people think I should be in Hufflepuff."

James looked at Peter and had to bite his tongue to stop a smart retort. It was conceivable that Peter had been mis-sorted, but to say so would just be…well, mean. But Sirius Black was simply born for Slytherin. His entire family had been in Slytherin, with a few exceptions who were considered blood-traitors. James shuddered slightly at the thought and led them to find a carriage.

Meanwhile, Sirius was looking around, getting lost in the huge crowd and wrapped up in the excited atmosphere. This was totally unlike Durmstrang. At Durmstrang, there was organization and if there wasn't, then there was discipline. Sirius shuddered slightly at the different forms of "discipline" before following Snape over to a carriage. As they searched for an empty carriage, Sirius couldn't help but notice the strange creatures that were pulling the carriages. He cocked his head, examining them, but decided to not say anything.

They came to one that was empty and piled inside, Snape sitting next to Sirius and Bellatrix sitting next to Malfoy, who had Narcissa sitting on his lap. Sirius watched them for a moment as they teased each other, Malfoy occasionally tickling her and Narcissa randomly kissing his cheek. Sirius turned away in mild disgust. Well, it was what she had been born for. It was always planned for her to become a witch trained in the dark arts and to be married to a wealthy pureblood wizard trained in the dark arts.

Sirius turned towards the window and found himself praying that he would not be in Slytherin. Sure he loved his cousins and if he had to, he could most likely get along with Malfoy and Snape for a little bit, but it wasn't his preference. Who would really want to be friends with these selfish money seekers? Not Sirius Black.

In his own carriage, Remus talked to James about their newest goal. James desired to become an Animagus in order to help Remus during his full moon transformations. For the past three years, James had researched, studied, and attempted to become an animagi. Unfortunately, it was more difficult than James had thought that it would be and even though he was the brightest student in their year, he was still having difficulty transforming. Which mean that it was virtually impossible for Peter at all.

"You do realize that it's ok," Remus said softly, staring out the window for a moment before turning his gaze to his friend.

James shrugged. "I know, but I still really want to be there for you. It's not right that you have to go through your transformations without any help."

Peter nodded enthusiastically. "I agree," he said softly. "After all, what good are friends if they don't try their best to make life experiences easier?"

Remus smiled slightly. "I know, but you guys, this is my trial. Someday I'll have to face it alone. Don't beat yourselves up over your…difficulty."

Sighing, James rolled his eyes. "Then maybe I just want to become an Animagus simply because it sounds like a good way to terrorize people."

At that, Remus laughed and shook his head. "Then have fun terrorizing people. I just hope you aren't planning any pranks involving an Animagus for a long time. It's still gonna take you a while."

James chuckled and nodded. "I know, but I can dream. Stop bursting my happy bubble!"

Remus rolled his eyes and smiled when he saw the great castle that was Hogwarts looming ahead of them. "Welcome home, guys," he muttered softly. Both James and Peter turned and smiled at him, all eagerly watching the approaching castle.

-------

"Welcome to your new home," Malfoy said, a smile on his pale face as he flourished his hands towards the window. There, Sirius could clearly see the huge castle. The huge castle that was his new home.

Home. It was a foreign word to Sirius's mind. After fifteen years, he was beginning to wonder if he had a true home. After all, he hated his parents' house too much for it to be his home, and Durmstrang was too cold and strict to be anything but a prison. And staring up at the huge castle, Sirius had a vague feeling that this would be just another cruel form of a prison. Especially if he was sorted into Slytherin.

_Oh wait_, Sirius reminded himself,_ I want to be in Slytherin. _

_Oh yeah, that's really what you want. That way you can please everyone around you and end up hating your life more. _

_Hey, what side are you on? _An evil voice was chuckling in his head.

_Your side, of course. There is no other side for a mind to be on. _

_Then stop corrupting my Slytherin oriented mind! _

_Stop lying to yourself…_

Sirius shook his head to stop his thoughts, causing the other Slytherins to look at him in mild concern. _Concern for my money…_

_SHUT UP! _

"Is everything alright Sirius?" asked Bellatrix politely.

"Is it a headache?"

"I know a potion to help headaches."

"That might give him a worse headache, Snape. You could always go see the nurse immediately."

"Or maybe he's fine and just completely overwhelmed by your constant nagging."

"You guys," Sirius broke in, looking at the four Slytherins as if they had lost their minds. "I'm fine. I just need to go to bed. The sooner the better."

"Of course," a smooth Malfoy said. "There's absolutely no need for a potion."

"Or a nurse," added Narcissa.

Sirius rolled his eyes and sprang up out of his seat as soon as the carriage came to a halt. The strange animals were still standing there patiently. Sirius gave them a quick glance before he started climbing up the stairs to the castle. Behind him, he could hear Bellatrix, Narcissa, Malfoy, and Snape scrambling to catch up with him.

_The joys of being the Black heir. _

_At least you get the fortune…_

_Shut up. _

_It's simply the upside to your sad excuse of a life. _

_At least I have a life…_

_Ah, but are you really who you want to be? _

A.N. It's hot. Sorry it took so long to get this chapter up. I wasn't sure how to proceed. I think this is good. I kinda thought showing how torn Sirius was would be kinda cool. You'll probably end up seeing more of his counter personality. Either way, I hope you enjoyed his chapter. Please review and thanks for reading.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Sirius walked into the hall, staring around, suddenly lost. He knew he had to get sorted but how? Malfoy, Snape, and his cousins had left him in the entrance to Hogwarts, telling him that a professor would come and assist him.

Sirius sighed softly. As he stood there looking around, a person suddenly caught his eyes. It was Potter and his two friends. Attempting to avoid a confrontation, Sirius shrank back into the shadows of the castle. He watched as the three friends walked into the school, each talking excitedly and randomly gesturing animatedly. Sirius watched them wistfully. If only he could have such good friends. At Durmstrang, Sirius was abnormal. He enjoyed having fun and lashing out at the teachers. That was not a normal occurrence at Durmstrang. As such, people avoided Sirius, leaving only desperate people who wanted his money.

_Sucks for me,_ Sirius thought. Just then he noticed a teacher walking towards him.

"I'm assuming you are Sirius Black," the woman said in a strict sounding voice. All in all, she looked incredibly stern with her brown hair tied back into a tight bun and a small frown on her face.

"Yes, that would be me," Sirius smiled.

She ignored his display of cheerfulness and curtly said, "Follow me."

Sirius furrowed his eyebrows in mild confusion at her impoliteness, but chose to dismiss it as distraction. Of course, with all the chaos and everything, all of the teachers were probably distracted. _That's a pleasant excuse, _he thought as he followed her.

As they walked along, the teacher began to speak. "I am Professor McGonagall. Normally you would just join your house, but considering you haven't been sorted yet-" an odd expression flashed across her face at those words, as if she already knew where Sirius was going to go "-you will be sorted with the first years. After their year is done." She stopped in a small room. "You will wait here until your name is called. When your name is called, walk out this door and over to the stool. Hopefully you won't get lost. Any questions?"

Sirius looked at her, his head reeling slightly. Wait, name called, door, stool. "Yeah, I think I've got all that," he said, smiling again. This time, she returned his smile with a small, thin lipped grin. Then she swept out of the rooms, her black robe billowing behind her slightly.

Sirius stood there, staring at the door that Professor McGonagall had just exited through. Wait, name called, door, stool.

_That doesn't sound too hard. I should be able to manage that without completely making a fool of myself. _

_You'd be surprised…_

Sirius rolled his eyes and sat down in a chair to wait for his name.

----------------------

"Do you see him anywhere?" asked Remus as he looked around at all the first years.

"I think he would kinda stick out, my darling Moony," teased James. Recently James had gotten into the habit of calling random people 'dear' or 'darling' or even an occasional 'sweetie'.

Remus simply rolled his eyes at the term of endearment and turned his attention to the front of the hall where the sorting hat was starting to sing. He tuned the song out and thought of Sirius Black. Sure, he probably would be sorted into Slytherin, but what if he wasn't? He hadn't seemed like a heartless Slytherin.

_Not all Slytherins are heartless," _Remus reminded himself. It was one of those typical stereotypes that Remus so hated. Being a werewolf made him appreciate the benefit of a doubt. Even if it didn't happen often.

James was sitting next to Remus, thinking similar thoughts. Well, kinda. He was actually planning out ways to make Sirius Black's life as dark as his last name. An array of different pranks kept flashing through his mind. Each one brought mild to severe pain and humiliation to the victim.

Peter sat across from his two best friends, contemplating James's reaction to the young Black. Peter knew just as much about him as his friends did, but that still didn't give James the right to react the way he had. It just wasn't polite. Not to mention it made them as bad as he supposedly was. It just made them huge hypocrites. And no one likes being regarded as a hypocrite.

Sirius sat in the room, examining his hands. The had suddenly gotten a lot more entertaining in the past five minutes. Distantly, he could hear someone or something singing and could here random shouts of "SLYTHERIN" and "RAVENCLAW" and once in a while "HUFFLEPUFF" and "GRYFFINDOR". The students would always applaud and he could hear the cheers, most likely from the house that had gotten the first year.

After a while, the first yeas had all be sorted. Sirius Black sat in the back room, patiently waiting with dread growing in his stomach. James waited with raised eyebrows, Remus waited with somewhat baited breath, and Peter stared anxiously between his two friends. The rest of the Great Hall buzzed with mild confusion and expectation. The sorting was over, shouldn't Dumbledore be saying mildly witty yet pointless things? Where was the food?

The silence in the Great Hall was so loud that it was becoming increasingly uncomfortable. So when Professor McGonagall called out the next, and final, name, her voice boomed throughout the huge hall. "Black, Sirius."

Silence once again filled the Great Hall. Eyes eagerly searched around, looking for this new student. He was nowhere to be seen. A creak of a door made everyone look up to the front of the hall again. A door to the left side of the hall opened and out walked a handsome looking fifteen year old, with his dark hair falling over his eyes. A small cocky smile was on his face and he walked with a haughty step. Yet underneath it all, it was simple to tell that he was nervous and most likely fighting some internal battle. Which he was.

_Slytherin! _He thought fervently.

_Gryffindor. _Sirius sighed internally.Of course.The counter-personality.

_Slytherin._

_Gryffindor. _

_Will you shut up? If you think the G-word one more time I'll…I'll stop thinking. So there._

_…fine, anything but Slytherin. _

_Argh...we'll see. _

Sirius carefully walked to the stool and sat down, allowing the teacher to place the hat on his head. He sat there, painfully aware of the hundreds of eyes that were eagerly fixed on him. He could sense that the Slytherins were confident that he would be in their house. In fact, he could sense that the entire school expected him to be in Slytherin. Well, something had to be done about that. Sirius Black _never_ did what was expected of him.

_Gryffindor._

_Gryffin-hey. That was the house that I wanted you to be in. You want to be in Slytherin,remember. _

_I changed my mind. _

_How amusing,_ a new thought introduced himself. Sirius raised his eyebrows. Either he was more schizophrenic then he had originally thought or the hat could talk. The new voice chuckled slightly. _Yes, the sorting hat can talk. That's why I'm magical. A new concept, aye? Anyways, back to your sorting. I was trying to pick your mind apart but all I keep getting is mixed messages. So is it Gryffindor or Slytherin? _

A smile flashed across Sirius's face. _I'm thinking I want to be in Gryffindor. _

_I knew you'd make the right choice,_ Sirius's schizophrenic voice thought, sounding proud.

The hat chuckled again. _Well, aside from suggesting that you seek help, I concur. Slytherin is not your style. Although, I'm not sure how your family will accept the whole Black being in Gryffindor dealio. _

_Forget them. I just don't care anymore. I don't acceptthe whole conforming idea, so I might as well be different. _

_And be in Gryffindor! _the schizophrenic voice thought again.

Sirius rolled his eyes. _Sure. Anyways, make up your mind. It's initially your decision and I'm tired of sitting up here with all of these people watching. It's fairly…disturbing. _

The hat outright laughed at the last thought. _Welcome to my life. Anyways, I suppose you do belong in Gryffindor. Good luck though. _

_Why? _

_You're family is not going to be happy. Happy trails! _"GRYFFINDOR!"

A stunned silence filled the Great Hall again. As Sirius took the hat off of his head, a smile stretched across his face. Yep, another shocker. Another perfect entrance. Laughing softly, Sirius sauntered over to his new house. Another year, another school, another awesome beginning. Leaving the crowd in utter amazement.

_Yep…that's the way to do it,_ Sirius thought smugly as he sat down.

_You said it man! _

A.N. ok, I probably went overboard with the whole "schizo" voice thing, but I really like him. shrugs Anyways, please review. Thanks for reading.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

James sat there, his mouth partway open in surprise. Remus stared at his plate, a knowing smile on his face. Peter was eating, trying to shove as much food as humanly possible into his mouth.

"The sorting…" James began, just trail off into shocked silence again. Remus stifled a snort of laughter and began to eat his dinner. "The sorting hat is broken!" exclaimed James, finally getting his voice back.

Remus choked back another chuckle and tried to appear sympathetic for James. Of course James saw straight through the act, but he couldn't help but reflect that it was the thought that counted. Sirius Black, the heir to the Black fortune, from a family that was very prominent in the dark arts, was in Gryffindor. Gryffindor!

"I highly doubt that the sorting hat is broken," Remus said as he began to eat. A knowing smile had somehow managed to make its way across his face. James rolled his eyes and picked up his knife and fork.

"But this simply isn't done!" he exclaimed. "Blacks are in Slytherin, not Gryffindor. There's a reason too. Have you forgotten that the Blacks lean heavily on the dark arts? Because they do. That's why they go to Slytherin. The house reserved for those of less than satisfactory families."

"Who said he was anything like his family?" asked Peter, who had apparently been listening to the exchange with avid interest. "When he came into our compartment earlier, he seemed to be nice enough...until you kicked him out anyways."

"Yeah, and the sorting hat wouldn't make such a huge mistake! That would leave too much doubt in the other students," reasoned Remus.

"But he went to Durmstrang! That school teaches the dark arts more than it teaches anything else," James argued. He could tell that he was going to lose the argument, but he was going to go down fighting.

"Yeah, but he was _expelled _from Durmstrang." Remus's voice had taken the tone of telling a stupid three year old what was wrong with throwing food at people.

"He probably…probably…oh alright! I don't know. He could be a very nice decent person," James sighed. So much for going down fighting. "I still think he should be in Slytherin though."

"Perhaps," muttered Remus. He glanced down the table towards the dark haired boy. He was sitting quietly, picking at his food. He kept his eyes averted, refusing to meet anyone's stare. All in all, he looked fairly exhausted, confused, and somewhat happy.

"We should invite him to eat with us," Peter suggested. He too had turned his gaze down towards Sirius.

An unpleasant look crossed across James's face at the thought. "You're joking right?"

"No," said Remus patiently. "Should I be?"

"YES!" exclaimed James, louder than he had meant to. A few heads turned to look at James, who turned a light shade of red. "His family is like my family's enemy," James continued in a quieter voice.

"Well, maybe your family is wrong."

-----

Sirius sat, picking at his food. The elation of shocking everyone was wearing off quickly. Now he was realizing just how much trouble he was going into. He could hardly say that his parents would be thrilled to find that he was in Gryffindor. This was worse news than Sirius being expelled. Well, by his parents' standards anyways. Sirius thought that it was awesome to be the only Black in history to be in Gryffindor. Sure there had been the occasional Ravenclaws and once a century maybe a Hufflepuff, but no Black had _ever_ been in Gryffindor.

A small grin lit up his face again at that thought. He definitely did not want to be in Slytherin. He didn't know why he had to begin with. Well, he did. It was more of a desire to live up to his parents' expectations. Of course, that would mean giving in to the dark side and hating muggle borns. Sirius did not agree with that lifestyle.

Once in a while, Sirius would glance towards the other end of the table. James Potter and his two other friends were talking, James waving his arms emphatically and Remus looking reasonable. Peter just sat there eating, occasionally saying something that seemed to frustrate Potter more. They were probably talking about him, judging by the way they kept on glancing towards him.

Randomly, Potter stood up and began to make his way over to where Sirius sat. Sirius looked at him as he walked over before turning his gaze back to his plate. _Uh oh,_ he thought grimly, _I wonder what he wants now. _

Potter stopped by Sirius, standing up and looking down on him. "Hey, Black. Um…we were wondering if you wanted to sit with us. You know, so we can get to know each other? I mean, if we're going to have to share a dormitory room for the next two years we might as well know something about each other."

Sirius raised his eyebrows, and glanced down at his plate again, contemplating the consequences of his actions. If he went and sat with Potter and his friends, he would openly be conforming to the Gryffindor ways. If he simply sat there, he would not only be lonely and depressed but stubborn and ridiculous. _Hmm…oh the choices…_

_Are you joking? Gee…let's think for a minute. Happy and cool or lonely and lame? Oh the decisions we have to make, huh? _

_Since when did you speak sarcastically? _

_Since you thought it…_

"Bloody counter-personality," Sirius muttered softly.

James looked at Sirius as if he had grown an extra head. "What was that?"

"Erm...nothing. I thinkI will sit with you. A change of scenery, you know?" Sirius said, standing up. As James turned back to head to where he and his friends had been sitting, Sirius called him back. "Hey, Potter." James turned back to look at Sirius in confusion. Sirius seemed to ponder what to say and finally responded, "Can we avoid talking about my family?"

James nodded slightly, before sitting down, gesturing for Sirius to follow him. Sirius began to walk towards the dark haired Gryffindor when he was suddenly punched in the arm. He turned around to see a very angry Bellatrix Black, backed by Narcissa.

"So Gryffindor, huh? You've done nothing but bring shame to this family since the day you were born," she hissed, pushing her face up close to mine. I was surprised that the teachers hadn't done anything to interfere. At Durmstrang, should one person act out in hostility, even mild hostility, a teacher would immediately stop the confrontation and hand out detention slips.

"Yeah," answered Sirius in a hushed voice. "It beats Slytherin any day."

"It didn't seem that way on the train," retorted Narcissa. Sirius glanced at her and inwardly groaned. When did Narcissa get smart and observational?

For once Sirius did not have a reply. "Listen, Sirius," Malfoy said as he walked up behind Narcissa, putting his arms around her. "We all know that you being placed in Gryffindor is a huge mistake. We'll just have to see about a resorting."

Sirius raised his eyebrows at this comment. "How could the sorting hat have made a mistake? Wouldn't that cause problems amongst other students?"

"It would wreak havoc, yes. But, Sirius, do you really think you belong in Gyrffindor?"

"Well, the sorting hat-"

"Is nothing more than a hat," finished Bellatrix shortly. As soon as Malfoy had suggested a resorting, her attitude towards Sirius had changed drastically. "You belong with us...your friends."

Malfoy and Narcissa nodded in agreement. "There's nothing for you in Gryffindor, only mudbloods and blood-traitors. And what are they worth? Compared to the purebloods you'll find in Slytherin. They are the people who are...worthy of your company," Bellatrix continued.

Sirius didn't know how to respond to this. Luckily, he didn't have to. A voice behind Sirius did for him.

"I hope there's not a problem here," Potter said, standing behind Sirius in a defensive kind of way.

Sirius spun around and came face to face with James. "Of course not, Potter," snapped Bellatrix. "Only family business. Something you shouldn't concern yourself with." The lightly veiled threat was clearly heard by the five students.

"It's my business when you involve someone from my house!" replied James, now sounding fairly angry himself. Around them, students were starting to watch the interaction.

"James," Sirius said softly, "I can handle this on my own. This really is none of your business."

James didn't back down though. Instead, he drew closer to Bellatrix. "I'd be careful if I were you. We don't take lightly to threats."

"And we don't take lightly to meddlers," Bellatrix snapped back.

"Better to be a meddler than a threatener."

"Better to be a threatener than a blood traitor." With those words said, Potter plunged his hand into his robes and drew out his wand. Within seconds, Bellatrix, Narcissa, and Malfoyhad their wands out too.

Just as quickly, Professor McGonagall was standing in between the Slytherins and Gryffindors. "Just what do you think you're doing?" she asked, sounding and looking furious.

"They threatened us, Professor," said James smoothly, putting his wand away while pointing at the Black sisters and Malfoy.

Professor McGonagall turned to gaze at the Slytherins, mild distaste on her face. "Very well. Go back to your seats. _NOW!_"

Begrudgingly, Bellatrix and Narcissa turned and walked back to their seats, their noses in the air in pride. Malfoy waited amoment, staring at Sirius as if conveying a silent message before following theBlacksisters."You two too," snapped Professor McGonagall impatiently, turning on her heel and striding back up to the front of the Great Hall.

As James walked back to his seat, Sirius grabbed his arm. "I could have handled it myself. It was family business, not yours. Next time, if I ask you to step down, step down. What happens between my family and me happens. Don't try to help. I don't need it."

James watched with raised eyebrows as Sirius turned smartly and walked back to where he had been sitting before. _Yep,_ James thought grimly as he sat down next to Remus. _Befriending Black will take a little bit more patience and work than I thought. Hmm…imagine that._

A.N. Alright, I really hate this chapter. It's just…bad. No flow whatsoever. Hopefully the next one will be better. Until then, please review. Thanks for reading. Later.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Sirius allowed himself to be pushed in the throng of people who were all heading up to their dorm rooms. He had no idea where he was going. Where was this Gryffindor common room? How was he supposed to get in when he found it? Was there some kind of password? And if there was, what the heck was it?

Sirius sighed. This move had definitely been harder than he had first thought it would be. Not only were the Slytherins trying to get him resorted but his own housemates probably hated him. Not that he could blame them. He had been rather rude to James. But in his defense, Potter hadn't exactly been nice to him either. _Are you saying that two wrongs make a right? _he asked himself bitterly.

Maybe he'd find someone who he had seen sitting at the Gryffindor table. With all the people roaming around, it shouldn't be too hard. Sure enough, moments later Sirius found a girl with red hair and emerald green eyes. Sirius quickly walked up to her, and gently tapped her on the shoulder. She turned her piercing eyes on him and eyed him with mild distaste. Immediately, Sirius's defenses went up, ready to fight her, verbally or physically, if he needed to. He had a feeling that she knew about his family. _Or she could just not be a friendly person_, he reasoned with himself. Which really wasn't any better.

"How might I help you?" she asked coldly, eyeing him with disinterest.

Slightly put off, Sirius cleared his throat and asked, "Where is the Gryffindor common room? I can't find a prefect or…anyone. And I thought I saw you sitting at the Gryffindor table, but I'm sorry if I'm mistaken. Perhaps I am. I'm sorry for bothering you. I'll just be off now. Sorry, bye."

Sirius turned to walk off, turning red as he realized how much he had just rambled. Behind him he could hear a soft chuckle and then soft footsteps hurrying to catch up with him. Moments later, a hand touched his shoulder and he spun around, suddenly defensive again.

The red haired girl stood before him, trying to hide the smile that was fighting to light up her face. "No, I'm sorry. I am in Gryffindor and I am a prefect. I'm Lily Evans."

Sirius grinned at her. "I'm Sir-"

"I know, Sirius Black. I saw your sorting. It seemed to cause quite a bit of mayhem." He must have taken on a downtrodden look for she quickly said, "Not that it matters of course. Now, you're lost. Hogwarts is a very easy school to get lost in." She began to walk away, gesturing with her head for him to follow. "This is the quickest way to get to the Gryffindor common room. Of course, being a magical school, the staircases will change randomly and some pictures will probably try to trick you and there are some trick stairs and…it's all just really tricky."

Sirius laughed slightly at that. "This sounds like my kind of school," he teased, looking around at all of the pictures hanging on the walls.

Lily laughed at his comment, randomly pointing out things of importance. Sirius smiled, thinking that he had perhaps found a friend. Lily Evans didn't seem to care that he was a Black. Either that or she just didn't know about his family. If she didn't know, though, she would by the next morning. Sirius could only guess about how much girls gossiped while trying to fall asleep.

"Sirius," she asked suddenly, breaking Sirius out of his content thoughts. "Why _did_ your sorting cause such a stir?"

Sirius glanced at her, surprise etched across his face. "You don't know?" When she shook her head, Sirius sighed and carefully thought out his next words. He did not want her to think he was like his family, but he didn't know how to explain the general reaction to his sorting without some background. "Well…" he said carefully, "it's mainly because of my family."

She looked at him with surprise, but not rejection, on her face. Not yet, anyways. So he decided to continue. "Anyways, my family has been in Slytherin for centuries. Sure there are occasional Ravenclaws and maybe once a century a Hufflepuff, but other than that, they have all been in Slytherin. I am the first Black to be in Gryffindor. Ever. And the Slytherins don't like it because they want the fortune that I'm supposed to inherit. No one else likes it because…well, because they don't trust me. They don't think I belong anywhere other than Slytherin. They think I'm just like my family. Which I'm not. I really don't have a problem with mud-I mean, muggle born witches and wizards."

Lily listened through his entire explanation with rapt attention, absorbing every word and thinking over it. After a while, she said softly, "So you don't hate me because I'm not a pureblood?"

Inwardly, Sirius laughed. So she did know something about his family. Her friends had probably told her about him while he was chatting with Malfoy and his cousins. "No, I don't hate you," he replied, "I honestly don't think I hate anyone, pureblood or otherwise. I mean, hate is such a strong word, right?"

Lily smiled at him and nodded so slightly that it was almost imperceptible. "Yes, it is." She came to a halt in front of a portrait of a fat lady in a pink dress. "And here we are, the Gryffindor common room."

Sirius looked around and groaned. He had no idea how he had gotten up here. He had been so wrapped up in talking to Lily that he had not bothered to pay attention to where they were walking. "And how did we get here?" he asked, sounding somewhat sheepish.

Lily laughed, shaking her head in mild disbelief. "I'll show you again tomorrow. I'll walk down to the Great Hall with you for breakfast. Anyways, the only important matter right now is the password."

"And it is…?"

"Pinprick," she exclaimed and the portrait swung open. Sirius smiled and gestured for her to go first. After she entered, Sirius followed her and was met with the sight of a warm room.

Sirius's eyes widened as he gazed around. Unlike at Durmstrang, where everything had been cold and unwelcoming, the Gryffindor common room was just begging to be lived in.

Lily smiled at his reaction. "Well, I'm going to go to bed. Your dormitory is upstairs on the left. If you want to wait down here, I'm sure Potter and his friends will be up in a moment. They'll show you which one it is." Something in her voice had turned slightly hostile when she had said Potter's name.

Sirius raised his eyebrows and asked, "Is there something wrong with Potter, my darling Lily?"

She turned a light shade of pink and just shrugged. "He's just…arrogant. I don't care much for him, but there you go. Anyways, good night." With those words said, she turned on her heel and walked to the staircase that led up to her dormitory. Before she started climbing though, she turned back to face Sirius. "Hey, Sirius," she called out softly. He turned to look up at her, curiosity evident on his face.

She hesitated a moment before continuing, and then said, "I'm sorry for how I initially treated you. I didn't know what to expect from you after all I hadheard. When you started rambling on like anidiot, though,you seemed to disprove the evil person you were supposed to be so I decidedI'd give you a chance to prove yourself.I guess I was still thinking that you would turn out evil.I was wrong. I hope we can be friends." With those words said, she turned and walked up the stairs, this time not looking back.

A.N. sorry for the long delay. Work has been crazy. Anyways, thanks for reading. Please review. Thanks!


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Little did Sirius know, but James, Remus, and Peter were already in their dormitory. They were each sitting on their beds, talking about Sirius and the unexpected sorting. James had been convinced that Sirius was just not worth being friends with by their brief contact. He seemed to think that Sirius was not to be trusted because he had spoken to the Slytherins without hexing them.

"You didn't try hard enough," Remus was saying reasonably, trying to get James to change his mind about the young Black. They had been arguing for the past ten minutes.

"I don't need to try any harder! I don't like him! He's a Black! Dark arts flow through his veins like blood."

James's real dislike of Sirius actually had nothing to do with the fact that he had spoken to Malfoy and the Black sisters. On the way up to the Gryffindor common room, James had seen Black walking with Lily, the object of his deepest affection. He had tried for the past three years to get Lily to notice him, to have a conversation with him, but had failed miserably. And Black had been here for less than two hours and was already chatting with her as if they were the best of friends.

Remus rolled his eyes at James's overdramatic attitude. "Maybe. I don't think so though. If he were truly as evil as you say, he would be in Slytherin. I honestly think we should give him a chance to explain his position. He may turn out to be just like you, James. Ever think of that? I didn't think so."

"Or he could be just like Snape or Malfoy," James fired back quickly.

Sighing, Remus continued, "We should try trusting him, or else we'll never know."

"Oh come on, Moony! Who in their right minds would trust a Black?"

"Who in their right minds would trust a werewolf!"

Cold silence fell among the three boys. Remus was breathing heavily, as if he had run a mile in five minutes. James had turned a light shade of red, embarrassed for inadvertently hurting his friend. Peter simply sat there, looking between his two friends, waiting for one of them to say something.

"I'm sorry, Remus," James finally said softly, examining his hands in his lap. "I was careless. I can see how all of this connects to your monthly condition. I just can't bring myself to even want to try to be his friend. It's just been engraved in my mind that I should hate the Black family with a passion. I can't just change like that. It's going to take some time to get used to the fact that not everyone is who they are supposed to be."

Remus nodded, satisfaction evident on his face. "That's all I want, James. As long as you try."

"Do or do not, there is no try," muttered Peter so that they all turned and looked him.

"What did you just say?" asked James, raising his eyebrows.

Peter just shrugged. "I honestly don't know. It just seemed like a fun thing to say."

That caused the three boys to start laughing. The door creaked open and Sirius Black poked his head around the corner. The laughing abruptly stopped and they all turned to look at him. A smile lit up his face and he walked in, summoning up some confidence so he wouldn't look less than…well, less than Black-like.

"Hey," he said, smiling at his new roommates. "I was afraid that I would find the wrong dorm. Good thing it's common sense that the fifth year dormitory would be the fifth one. Although, common sense isn't all that common. That's besides the point though." Sirius came to an abrupt halt. He was rambling again. _Curse my lack of common sense to keep quiet, _he thought in frustration. If only he didn't ramble when he got nervous.

The other three boys were looking at him with shocked expressions on their faces. They had definitely not been expecting Sirius Black to be like this. James watched him as he moved to the only free bed suspiciously. This could all be an act to get them to trust him. And then he would betray them for his own sick pleasure. _Oh wait,_ James thought suddenly, _I'm trying to befriend him. Remember? _

_Do or do not, there is no try, _another thought pushed itself into his mind.

_Damn you Peter! That was not a thought I wanted to think about! _James countered.

"So…" Sirius began, trailing off uncertainly, glancing at the three boys in turn. They were still all staring at him. _This is a little awkward slash uncomfortable, _he thought sullenly. He knew that being sorted into Gryffindor would not be the easiest course of action.

Suddenly he was strongly reminded of his life at Durmstrang. Being mocked and beat up and randomly hexed while minding his own business was quite natural for Sirius. Being signaled out as the freak was natural for Sirius. Being disliked for his personality was natural for Sirius. And while he was not being physically beat up, his emotional state was quickly plunging into dangerous turmoil. After all, everyone needs to belong somewhere. It just so happened that Sirius Black had not found that place of belonging yet.

"So…" Sirius started again, looking out the window at the stars. A topic finally outlined itself in his mind. "What were those things that were pulling the carriages?"

Three pairs of eyes gazed at him, disbelief in each of them. _Except_, Sirius corrected his general impression, _for Remus's._

"What are you talking about Black?" asked James, a slightly hostile tone in his voice. Peter nodded, encouraging him to respond. Remus just sat there, looking surprised and confused.

"The winged, dragon-like…things? I don't know how to explain their appearance. I just haven't seen anything like them before and I thought you would-"

James laughed sharply and abruptly cut him off. "I haven't seen them before either. Now if this isn't proof that you're insane, then I don't know what is!"

Sirius felt his face heat up, but his indignation took place of his embarrassment. "I know what I saw, and perhaps you're too blind to see them. But don't be too surprised when one of them decides it likes to eat arrogant prats and devours you whole." With those words said, he closed the curtains around his bed with a distinct snap, leaving the other boys staring at his bed in mild shock.

"Well…that went well," muttered James after a moment. Remus and Peter both turned to look at him as if he had lost his mind. Remus, for some reason, looked deeply insulted and hurt. James wondered what he had said this time, but before he could ask what was wrong Remus snapped his own curtains shut with a curt, "Whatever."

James and Peter were left staring at each other.

"Bedtime, I think," muttered Peter and slowly pulled his curtains shut, glancing at James one last time to make sure he was okay before closing them completely.

James stared at the three beds around him. Two of his roommates were angry at him and the other one was torn between him, Remus, and Sirius. Groaning in frustration, James flung himself backwards on his bed, trying to will the year to just end.

_Please…just end. _

A.N. Yeah…I honestly don't know how deep the hatred should be or how long it should continue. Anyways, please review and thanks for reading. Until later, ta!


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

"Ah! Where's the charms classroom?" asked Sirius, running up to Lily. Lily was just standing up from the Gryffindor table after eating breakfast.

"It's over there," she answered, pointing in some vague direction. Sirius raised his eyebrows and gave her a mock glare.

"Well _that _was helpful. Care to give some directions that are actually going to get me to my classroom?"

Lily laughed and nodded. "Sure. I'll take you there, considering I have the same classes as you."

She took off in the general direction that she had initially pointed to, Sirius following close to her heels. Behind him, James Potter glared at his retreating back.

"He's here one day and already he has the one girl that I've been after since first year!" James exclaimed angrily. He was feeling an overwhelming sense of jealousy. "How the heck does that work?"

Peter shrugged, not really paying attention to his friend. He was completely distracted by his girlfriend, who was getting up from the Hufflepuff table. Deciding that she wasbetter company thanJames at the present moment, he went over to talk to her, leaving James to rant on to Remus.

"Hey," Peter's girlfriend, Susan, said as he walked over to her.

"Hi," he responded, giving her a tight hug. They had been going out for a little more than five months. Over the summer, they had kept in touch by owl post and would occasionally get together and spend their time just talking in some muggle ice cream parlor.

"So how is the newest addition to your dormitory?" she asked, pushing her curly brown hair out of her eyes.

Peter smiled at her, wondering at how he'd gotten so lucky as to find such an incredible girl as Susan. She was absolutely everything he could ever want. Unlike most of the girls that James went after, Susan wasn't perfect looking. She wasn't fat, but she wasn't really _thin_ either. Standing at about 5 feet tall, she wasn't extremely tall. Her eyes a clear blue that would show her emotions and thoughts as if they had words flashing through them. She, in essence, was perfect for Peter.

"Peter…Peter?" Susan said, snapping her fingers in front of Peter's face to bring him out of his thoughts. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I was just thinking about how incredible you are," Peter said, lightly kissing her on the forehead.

Susan just laughed at his excuse. "Sweet, but a little bit too corny. Better stay away from compliments and pick up lines."

"Hey!" Peter exclaimed as she began to exit the Great Hall to go to her class. He followed her saying, "I thought my pick-up line was incredibly amazing!"

Susan turned back to him and rolled her eyes. "Oh yeah, incredibly amazing. What wasit again?'Do you believe in first sight or should I walk by again'?" she said sarcastically, lowering her voice to mock him.

"Hey, it was better than the one I was originally going to use," Peter said defensively.

She raised her eyebrows. "And which one was that?"

Peter blushed and turned his face away somewhat sheepishly, but answered anyways. "Are you tired? Cuz you've been running through my mind all day."

At those words, Susan threw her head back and laughed out loud, causing quite a few students to look over at the two as if they were positively insane. Peter chuckled softly and wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her close to him. That was just one of the many reasons that he loved her. She wasn't embarrassed or intimidated by what others thought of her. She just allowed herself to be who she wanted to be.

As her laughter began to fade away,she said, "That's almost as bad as the whole 'When do you have to be back in heaven?' pick-up line." She laughed a little bit more and then eventually let it completely fade away, leaving her temporarily breathless. "Anyways," she saidbriskily, "back to my original question. How is your new roommate?"

Confusion clouded Peter's mind before he remembered Sirius. "Sirius? He's fine. James doesn't like him much, but Remus and I are more than willing to give him a chance. Why do you ask?"

She shrugged and replied, "He seemed very lonely at lunch. He was sitting all alone and looked fairly forlorn. And he kept on looking at the owls as if expecting one of them to deliver a bomb."

"Judging by his parents, they just might," Peter muttered as they reached their classroom. They both had Charms, considering it, and Herbology, were the only classes that Gryffindor and Hufflepuff shared. They walked inside, pulling apart ever so slightly. James and Remus were already there, sitting together and talking. Rather, James was talking and Remus was trying to ignore him. Peter guessed that James was still complaining about the unfairness of life.

As Peter and Susan walked to their usual desk, Peter found Sirius. He was sitting alone, staring down at the book on his desk, trying to look like he was reading it. It was obvious that he wasn't though, considering his eyes kept darting from place to place. It was like he was just hoping that someone would sit next to him so he could talk. Peter felt a stab of pity, but quickly pushed it back. He had a feeling that the last thing Black would appreciate was pity.

Susan gave him a slight push in the back. "Go sit with him," she whispered in his ear. He turned and gave her a questioning look. It was almost like she had read his mind. Instead of explaining, she simply nodded towards Sirius. "Go! I haven't had the chance to sit with my friends from Hufflepuff for a long time. Plus, having a friend other than James might be really good for you."

Peter turned to his girlfriend exasperatedly. "Just because you don't like him," he muttered, but went over to sit next to Sirius anyways. She smiled and walked over to sit with some of her friends from Hufflepuff.

As he sat down, Sirius looked up at him, surprise visible in his eyes. "Hi, Sirius," Peter said as he pulled out his book, notes, and quill.

"Hi, Peter," Sirius responded, suspicion now coursing through his voice. "What are you doing?"

"I'm sitting down next to a person who I think is a potential friend," Peter replied, not sure what to make of the strange boy sitting next to him. To his surprise though, instead of retorting, Sirius flashed him a wide smile.

"Did she put you up to it?" Sirius asked, nodding his head in the direction of Susan. She kept on sneaking glances over at the two of them to see if they were fighting yet. Even though she wanted them to be friends, Sirius seemed a bit…temperamental, and she did not want him to get angry at Peter and then have it be her fault.

Peter glanced over at his girlfriend and rolled his eyes at her blatant spying. "Yeah, she did. But I wanted to sit with you anyways, even though I wanted to sit with her. But it's hard to sit with three people in a two person desk."

Sirius chuckled slightly and rolled his grey eyes. "Completely understandable. I've tried it before, at Durmstrang. There were these two really pretty girls, right, and they both wanted to sit with me. And, okay, they were dark witches, but what do you really want me to do? The entire school was filled with dark wizards and witches. Anyways, they were both really pretty, like absolutely gorgeous, and I agreed to sit with both of them. Of course, I wasn't thinking straight and I was thinking that I had them in two different classes. So when I get to my Dark Arts class, they're both there, looking beautiful. I couldn't just say no, so we somehow managed to all squeeze together under the desk. It was fairly uncomfortable. And I got yelled at. But it was worth it…" He got a faraway look on his face as he remembered the event.

Peter burst into laughter. That had to be the most interesting story Peter had ever heard before. "Did the girls like having to share you?" he asked after his laughter died down.

Sirius barked out a laugh. "Not particularly, no. Afterwards, I was always kind of afraid of both of them. They'd send me murderous looks and it was just…scary."

Peter laughed again, but abruptly stopped when the Professor walked into the room. "Alright class, today we will be learning…"

"Nap time," muttered Sirius as he propped his book up and lay his head on the desk.

Peter chuckled softly as he watched his new friend doze off behind his book. _Better take notes_, he thought as he began writing the newest charm and how to cast it. He was so engrossed in his note-taking that he didn't notice the glares that James sent towards him. Or the exhaustion in Susan's eyes. He didn't see how his newfound friendship with Sirius would so affect the next few months of his life and, ultimately, his life.

A.N. I'm sorry this took so long to post. I had no idea where to go next. So, I'm going with a whole new character (not Susan). Peter. Now, I know most of you hate him, but would James, Sirius, and Remus really befriend him if he started out as a traitorous rat? No, I don't think so.

By the way, if Susan's a Mary-Sue, please tell me, and I'll do my best to change her. I'm trying really hard to add some flaws, but I was writing from Peter's perspective, and in his eyes she's the best thing since cake. Anyways, just warn me, cuz Mary-Sues are annoying. Sorry for the long wait. Please review and read…yeah. Thanks.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

"How could he do that? He just betrayed us! He was sitting with that…that…. argh, that scum! How could he do that!" exclaimed James as he paced around in the Gryffindor common room.

"I've no idea," Remus replied absently. He was sitting at a table and was trying to finish his homework. James had been ranting ever since Charms. Instead of getting angry, though, Remus had learned to tune out James's mad ranting.

"Not only does he ignore us the rest of the day, but he hangs out with _him_. My mortal enemy!" James continued, ignoring Remus.

"Fancy that," he responded without looking up from his textbook.

"After all we've ever done for him too. I mean, we were the ones who got him and Susan together. We were the ones who first befriended him. We were the ones who-"

"Got him is first detention. Yes James, I know, but it doesn't matter!" Remus snapped, finally looking up and shutting his book with a snap. "If Peter wants to befriend Sirius, then that's a good thing."

James stopped pacing and turned to look at Remus as if he had sprouted another head. "A _good _thing? Tell me how it's a _good _thing."

"Well," Remus began, thinking through his words before continuing his argument. "At least he's starting to think for himself. Before he'd just follow you around like a mindless zombie. Now he's starting to branch out and make new friends."

"What was wrong with just us?" asked James, refusing to back down. Along with being incredibly intelligent, James was unbelievably stubborn.

Remus simply rolled his eyes before gathering his things up and walked up the stairs to their dormitory. "Hey!" called James. "What are you doing?"

"I'm going to bed! I can't take any more of your rambling complaining! When you come to realize the world doesn't revolve around you, I'll start listening to you again. Maybe!"

Moments later, a door slammed, signifying the end of the conversation and any upcoming conversations. James stared after his friend before nodding and sitting down. _A good opportunity to catch up on my homework._

Meanwhile, Remus was fuming in their dormitory. The entire day had been nothing but James complaining. First it was the injustice of Sirius's time with Lily, then it had been Peter hanging out with Sirius all day, and then it had been Sirius's apparent aptitude in all of their classes. James was finally finding competition, and it was completely annoying the hell out of him.

A sudden hacking cough alerted Remus to the very person who had just been proclaimed James's "mortal" enemy. He spun around to see Sirius on his bed with his textbook open in front of him. He had his hand covering his mouth has he coughed. Remus went to sit on his bed and waited for him to stop coughing.

When he stopped, Remus asked him, worriedly, "Are you alright? That cough didn't sound too good."

Sirius shrugged and forced a smile. His eyes were bright from the force of the cough. "I'm fine. I just have a bit of a cold. I've been sneezing and coughing and sniffling all day. It's positively miserable. But no more so than this homework that Professor McGonagall decided she wanted us to do. It's absolute busy-work if you ask me. Then again, I can completely see the point of it. I know that some students take only a little bit of time to understand the material while others could study for months and still not get it. Unfortunately I am in the first category. Honestly, I would like the just be in the happy medium category. That way I wouldn't have to study something completely confusing that I couldn't comprehend for months, but also the work wouldn't be considered busy-work. Do you get it?"

Remus stared at the dark-haired boy with wide eyes. After two days of saying almost nothing at all, he wouldn't shut up. "Yeah…I get it," he muttered after a few minutes.

Silence fell between the two of them. "So…who did you see die?" Remus asked, finally gathering up the courage to ask the question that had been bothering him since Sirius had mentioned the winged dragon things.

Sirius looked up, shocked and confused. "How did you know-?"

"You mentioned the winged dragon things last night. They're called threstrals and only people who have witnessed death can see them," he explained in a passive voice.

Sirius stared at him for a moment before softly answering, "I don't know. I mean, I know who I saw die, I just don't know his name or personality or life or…anything. It was murder. I was waiting in a store in Nocturne Alley. My father had been doing some business with the owner of the store and I was wandering around the store, examining all the creepy things. As I neared the window, I saw these cloaked and hooded figures come out from the shadows, pushing some man. They had their wands pointed at him. He was totally defenseless, cowering on the ground. He never had a chance. They muttered some curse I guess and the next thing I knew he was dead." Sirius laughed bitterly all of a sudden. "The sad thing is, my father came up from behind me and watched the entire thing without saying or doing anything. After the man was dead, he said to me, 'That man was weak. We are powerful. It is our job to get rid of people like that'."

Remus listened to Sirius wordlessly. That must have been a horrible thing to witness. "I'm sorry," he said softly, looking at the teenager compassionately, hoping that he wouldn't mistranslate it for pity.

Sirius smiled grimly. "Why? You weren't the one who taunted the man before killing him with his own wand."

"How do you know they did it with the man's wand?" asked Remus, now completely confused. If Sirius had no idea who the man even was, then how would he know little petty details of his murder?

Sirius turned a slight shade of red and turned away from Remus, as if suddenly embarrassed. Remus raised his eyebrows. There was more to the story than Sirius had obviously told. Just as he opened his mouth to respond, the door burst open and James stalked in angrily. "Who does she think she is? Giving me a lecture about "kindness and respect". I'll show _her _kindness and respect!"

Remus rolled his eyes and lay back on his bed, exasperated. Sirius looked relieved as he turned back to his homework. James shot Sirius a glare and then went over to his own bed. The door opened again and Peter trudged in, looking sheepish and slightly afraid.

"Hey guys," he said, walking over to his bed and sitting down as James had just done. "How you all doing?"

James's anger at Peter rose up again and he stood up in frustration. "How do you think we're all doing? I mean, not only do you completely abandon us, but you spend the entire day with the scum of Gryffindor!"

Sirius, who was now focusing on his homework, stiffened, but didn't otherwise respond to James's harsh words. Remus looked at him reproachfully but knew that any reprimanding words would be a pointless waste of breath. Peter looked momentarily angry but quickly took on a defeated expression.

"Well, you guys were being really mean to him and I thought it might be fun to be nice to him and get to know him and I wasn't really thinking much about how you might feel towards all this but Susan said it would be a good idea and he's not that bad and is actually really funny and he's incredibly smart and nice and…you can't possibly blame me for wanting to make friends and considering I know what it's like to be an outcast I thought that I would remedy that and…" he trailed off, gasping for breath as he did so.

Remus and James looked at him with raised eyebrows. "Wow," muttered Remus, shaking his head in wonderment. "How the heck did you get all of those words in one sentence and still manage to make it grammatically correct?"

"I've got a better question." James countered. "How did you say it all without passing out?"

The three of them laughed at that comment and immediately the tensions between them were healed. Sirius, however, had frozen, a slightly confused look on his face. That was quickly replaced by anger as his eyes narrowed and a low growl emitted from his throat.

"So that's how it went, aye?" he asked in a dangerously low voice. For the first time since he had met Sirius, Remus could see how Sirius could be a potentially dangerous enemy should something terrible happen between them. "I was treated badly so you decided to treat me with pity? Is that how it goes? You don't really want me to be your friend? I just make you look good. That must be it, right? Obviously I'm not worth befriending without some ulterior motive." Sirius stood up angrily. He was trembling in his fury. "Well, I'll tell you what. Save your pity for someone who needs it! For that matter, save your "friendship" for someone who doesn't mind being used!"

With those words said, he stormed out of the dormitory, slamming the door as he went.

A.N. Crappy ending. I'm confused. Peter was gonna be a bigger character but then I remembered that he drives me crazy. So…he's gonna be _mildly_ big. I think. I don't know. I understood the story a lot better before I wrote this chapter. Anyways, please review. Thanks for reading. Laterz!


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

"Sirius, why the heck are you sleeping on the couch?"

Sirius blinked his eyes as these words penetrated his happy bubble of sleepiness. "What? Where am I?"

A sharp tap to his head made him flinch away. "You're in the common room, you dolt," Lily Evan's voice rang out shrilly.

Blinking the sleep out of his eyes, Lily soon became clear in front of him. She looked angry and confused. Sighing, Sirius sat up and propped himself up with his elbows. "Did that arrogant Potter kick you out of your own dormitory?" she asked, placing her hands on her hips.

Sirius immediately felt a wave of anger and got defensive. "He didn't kick me out!" he exclaimed angrily. "I left! Who would want to share a dormitory with the likes of him anyways?"

Lily raised her eyebrows at his sudden hostility but decided not to press him. "If you say so," she responded softly. "You'd better go get ready though. Breakfast ends in 30 minutes so if you want to eat before class begins, I suggest you hurry up."

Sirius smiled gratefully at her, his sudden anger gone as quickly as it had come. "Thanks Lily." He stood up, stretching out his taut muscles and then walked up the stairs to his dormitory. Lily stood at the bottom watching him, a worried expression on her pretty face. What was James Potter up to?

-In the dormitory-

Cautiously, Sirius pushed the door open a crack and glanced around quickly. After last night he really didn't want to run into anyone who would be willing to mock him for getting upset over something so stupid. Of course, to Sirius it wasn't stupid. His pride had been at stake and pride was everything.

Of course, with his luck, Peter was sitting on his bed, reading some page out of one of their textbooks. He glanced up as Sirius walked in. A guilty expression flashed across his face before he abruptly turned back to his book. No apology? No outburst? No comment at all? Sirius raised his eyebrows, but decided to match Peter's silence with a stony silence of his own.

So in silence, Sirius walked over to his trunk and pulled out a clean pair of jeans, a black tee-shirt, and a robe to wear over them. Classic school dress code. He rolled his eyes at that thought. Dress code…ha, that was a laugh. The dress code at Hogwarts was so relaxed that he probably could've gotten away with wearing only his boxers. He chuckled softly at that thought and wondered how the teachers would react should he show up in class like that. That pleasant thought was blocked out by a different, less pleasant memory.

-_flashback-_

_"Sirius Black! Why are you disobeying the dress code? Must you rebel at every opportunity?" Professor Sprock yelled angrily, getting dangerously close to Sirius's face. Sirius backed up ever so slightly, disgust fighting its way across his face. _

_"I wasn't aware that I was breaking dress code, Professor," Sirius replied smartly, trying to ignore the various stares he was receiving from his peers. _

_"Look at your tie, you miscreant. If you attempted to look tidy instead of the continually messy person you appear to be, I wouldn't have to spend ten minutes a day yelling at you and then sending you to the office for your punishment! Do you enjoy causing a scene? Do you enjoy being completely and totally annoying? Do you enjoy being the least liked student in this school? No, I did not think so. Clean up, Black. Now, to the office!" _

_Sirius stared at the Professor as if he had lost his mind. So his tie wasn't perfectly tied. What of it? Neither was Knox's, yet he wasn't be yelled at. Where was the justice in the school? _

Oh yeah,_ Sirius thought bitterly as he walked slowly to the office, dreading the punishment that awaited him. The punishment that awaited him every day. _There is no justice.

-_Flashback ends-_

"Sirius, are you okay?" asked Peter timidly. He wasn't sure how Sirius would react to his sudden display of caring.

Sirius just glanced over at him and nodded wordlessly. He wasn't about to spill his soul out to some person who had just hurt him more than any previous punishment had. Peter looked like he was going to say something, but thought twice and turned back to his studying. Sirius watched him for a moment before lying down on his bed. "Breakfast ends in 20 minutes if you want anything to eat," he said monotonously from his position on the bed.

Peter glanced over at him and nodded. "Very well. Aren't you coming down?"

Sirius didn't even move. "Yes, after I can get into the bathroom and get somewhat cleaned up. Sleeping on a couch doesn't do much for my beauty sleep."

Peter chuckled uneasily before nodding and heading down the stairs. Yes, Sirius Black was an odd one. One moment he would be cheerful and hyper and the next he would be depressed and exhausted.

If only he could think of a way to apologize for his words last night. Sure, saying "I'm sorry" would probably help, but there was a simple problem. He had meant every word he said, and apologizing for something he meant just didn't make sense. Although he wanted Sirius to have a friend. He wanted to be Sirius's friend. Was it his fault that he was so sensitive? Not at all! He wasn't to blame. He, Peter, was just an innocent victim. When Sirius came to his senses and realized how stupid he was being, he would come crawling back to Peter begging for his friendship. Peter smirked ever so slightly. He highly doubted that his interpretation of their reconciliation would be correct, but he could dream.

"Hey, Peter!" a cheerful voice came up beside him. He turned and saw Susan with a large smile on her face. She had her hair pulled back into a ponytail and had a slight amount of makeup on. Peter smiled at her slightly disheveled appearance but didn't comment.

"Hey, Suzy, what's up?" he responded, putting his arm around her waist.

She leaned her head into his shoulder as she responded, "I was doing alright until you decided to call me Suzy. You know I hate that name with a passion bright enough to burn down this school."

Peter raised his eyebrows at her analogy but otherwise ignored her statement. "So how are you and Sirius getting along?" she asked innocently.

"Um…well, everything actually is not so good right now. I guess I said something that he mistook as pity and he kinda stormed out on us last night and slept in the Common Room. But he came up this morning and…well he didn't look happy, but he didn't look angry either. That's a good sign, right?"

Susan looked up at him, a look of disbelief on her face. "You told him that you pity him? How could you? That's possibly the worst thing you could say to anyone with any pride at all! And he's a Black so he almost definitely has enough pride for both of us! And you go and tell him you pity him? What were you thinking? Oh…let me guess, you weren't." She rolled her eyes and let out the deep breath that she had taken in. "Why am I not surprised? Peter, you really are daft at times, just so you know."

Peter sighed slightly and hugged her to his side tightly. "I know. I was trying to explain things to James, cuz we both know he doesn't like Sirius. But I like James and Remus too. Just because Sirius arrived doesn't mean I want to let go of my old friends."

"That's why you have to _merge_ your two groups together," she said with exaggerated exasperation. "James and Sirius are too much alike to not become best friends and Remus is just too nice to dislike someone for too long."

Peter sighed. That was apparently the only good solution. Still, he would rather feed himself to a hungry pack of wolves. James was too stubborn for his own good and judging by what he had seen with Sirius, so was he. It would take a lot of effort to get them talking civilly, let alone becoming friends. But if it meant they could be a united group, then Peter would do his best to get them to become friends. Which meant only one thing.

"So what should we do?"

A.N. Sorry this chapter is not any good. I'm making a transition and it sucks. Deal with it please.

Anyways, on a serious note, I don't know what denomination you guys all are, but as most of you probably know there are thousands of people who have been displaced by hurricane Katrina. They've pretty much lost everything and haveto start all over again.If you could pray for all the people and the government, I'm sure they'd appreciate it. Yeah, just a suggestion.

Anyways, thank you for reading this. Until later, read, review, and live life to its fullest.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

Sirius's day could not have started worse if he had tried to make it terrible himself. Not only was he incredibly late in taking his shower, but he couldn't find his jeans. And after he managed to find his jeans and pull them on quickly, he had a hard time finding his tee-shirt and when he did find it, it had a hole in it. His favorite tee-shirt! With a huge, gaping hole in it! So he spent another five minutes trying to find a hideous orange shirt that actually looked better on him then he remembered. After that, he had to struggle to put on his shoes and socks, only to find that not only did his socks not match, but he had placed the right shoe on the left foot and vice versa. Which would explain why he had had such a hard time putting them on.

So it was with a bad mood that Sirius left the dormitory alone. To improve his mood, as he was walking down to the Great Hall, he met up with his favorite Slytherins: Malfoy, Bellatrix, and Narcissa. Inwardly, Sirius groaned but otherwise forced a smile. It wasn't that he completely disliked Malfoy and his cousins, he just didn't want to see them when he was in such a crappy mood. They were the kind of people that you had to be in the mood to see. And Sirius was definitely not in the right mood.

"Hello, Sirius," Malfoy said smoothly, moving up beside and falling into step with him. Sirius did his best to restrain himself from rolling his eyes at the suave Slytherin and somehow managed to succeed.

"Hello, Lucius," he replied in a voice that could have been considered cold as ice. Malfoy easily dismissed it though and continued on as if there was no hostility between the two, ignored or otherwise.

"I've sent a letter to Dumbledore demanding a resorting. Surely he will agree that your sorting was a completely mistake, and will have the sorting hat resort you immediately."

Bellatrix nodded in agreement while Narcissa simply clung to Malfoy's arm somewhat protectively. Sirius did his best to hide a sneer. Out of all of his cousins, Narcissa was the most annoying, simply because she was the most whiny, clingy, simpering one.

"After all, your rightful place is with us, in Slytherin," Bellatrix added, smiling cunningly.

"Per se," Sirius said, glancing first at Bellatrix and then over at Lucius. "I think the sorting hat doesn't make mistakes. Placing me in Gryffindor was the right place, I think."

"What do you mean?" Lucius's voice had turned colder as well. He was not liking the direction this conversation was going.

"I mean," explained Sirius, "that even if Dumbledore authorizes a re-sorting, which I doubt he will, I'm not sure I'll accept. I kind of like being in a house that is not being constantly watched by my parents."

"Your parents, no, but the rest of the Slytherins are watching very closely. They're just waiting for you to be disinherited. They're not stupid, they can see it coming. As can we," hissed Bellatrix angrily, stopping shortly in front of Sirius.

Sirius rolled his eyes and pushed past his cousin. "And I honestly don't care. This has been coming on since I discovered that having "pure" blood isn't everything."

"Yeah, you were just better at disguising it with disdain," Narcissa said, deciding to throw in her opinion as well.

Sirius scoffed. "As if I care. After all I've done, all I've been through, this is nothing."

"Except you've got no where to go," taunted Lucius. "If you're disowned, not only will the _worthy _wizarding reject you for being a blood traitor, but the rest of the wizarding world will hate you for having pure blood."

Sirius stopped short and mulled the words over in his mind. It was true. Should he ever be kicked out of his house, he had no where to go. He had yet to make any friends, which was depressing. He could always go to Peter's house…no, that wouldn't do. As nice as the boy had been so far, Sirius could tell that he would get annoying fast.

"Think about it Sirius," Lucius called out as he walked into the Great Hall, leaving Sirius to his tumultuous thoughts.

-in the shadows-

James lurked throughout the shadows, watching the entire exchange between Black and the Slytherins with avid interest. Whatever the topic of the conversation was seemed to put Black a little on edge. He continually, however, shook his head and didn't seem to agree with what the Slytherins were saying. James finally managed to get close enough to the group to be able to hear them and remain invisible to their eyes as well.

"As if I care. After all I've done, all I've been through, this is nothing!" Black snapped.

"Except you've got no where to go. If you're disowned, not only will the _worthy _wizarding reject you for being a blood traitor, but the rest of the wizarding world will hate you for having pure blood." Malfoy began to walk away to the Great Hall, leaving Sirius behind him. "Think about it Sirius."

James watched as Sirius stood motionless, taking in all that Malfoy had just said. James decided that it was time to make his presence known.

"Hey, Black, what was that all about?" he asked casually, trying to make it appear as if he had just stumbled into the conversation at the wrong time, rather than having attempted to eavesdrop.

Sirius jumped at the sound of his name, spinning around rapidly and meeting James's questioning eyes with a patronizing stare. "Suddenly all concerned for the should-be Slytherin?" he asked, a small smile tugging at the corner of his lips.

James rolled his eyes. "No, seriously, what's up?" It was surprising to James that he actually was worried about Black. It appeared to surprise him too.

Finally, Sirius decided it was safe to answer. "Ah, the usual Slytherin crap. They want me to be in Slytherin so I can actually bring honor to my family and be "pure" as they say. As such, the asked Dumbledore if I could have a re-sorting. Which is perfectly outlandish really. I mean, it would cause such a stir in the school. Everyone would be wondering whether or not they were sorted into the right house."

"Unless the sorting hat still put you in Gryffindor," muttered James, staring over Sirius's shoulder to avoid eye contact.

Sirius raised his eyebrows at that comment. "Did you, James Potter, enemy of my family, just say that my sorting might not have been a mistake?"

James rolled his eyes and turned to look at Sirius with an exasperated expression on his face. "Yes, I did."

A smile dared to flash across his face, but Sirius managed to suppress it. "Why the sudden change of mind?"

"I changed my mind?" James asked, sounding shocked. Sirius raised his eyebrows at James, who quickly amended, "I may not have completely changed my mind, but I'm at least willing to give you a chance…I guess."

"If you have to?" Sirius teased, laughing a bit at how at ease the two were. James smiled in return and walked into the Great Hall with Sirius at his side.

-At the Slytherin table-

"What are we going to do?" hissed Bellatrix angrily. "We can't have him befriending those mudblood lovers. It will bring such disgrace to the entire pure blood population!"

Lucius shook his head as he watched the young Black sit down next to Potter and start a conversation with Lupin and Pettigrew. "We'll just have to think of something that would…discourage him from joining their ranks."

"Like what?" asked Narcissa, feigning interest.

Lucius, however, just smiled maniacally and shook his head. "You'll see…they'll all see."

A.N. I'm sorry that took so long. Life keeps on getting in the way. I'll update faster next time. But if you're all bored, I suggest you read my Pong story and then go to the Pong section under games. They're hilarious. Anyways, thanks for reading, and please review.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

"So what was our homework for Transfiguration?" asked a steadily falling asleep Sirius Black.

James looked over at him with raised eyebrows. "Why ask me? You should know that I pay about as much attention as you do, if that much."

Sirius ignored him as he curled his head deeper into his arms, appearing to ignore James. James looked over at the dozing teenager and shook his head in mild amusement. _So much for the Transfiguration homework_, he thought and smiled.

Just then the Common Room door opened and Remus walked in with a stack of books in his arms. Tiredly, he dropped them on the nearest table, which just happened to have Sirius's head resting on it, and flung himself into an armchair. Sirius immediately sat up as the books hit the table, suddenly awakened by their impact. Grumpily, he turned to glare at Remus before standing up and stretching out his arms and legs.

"Well, considering I'm not going to be able to sleep down here…I'm going upstairs. Good night," Sirius muttered and sauntered out of the room.

Remus watched him go with raised eyebrows before reclining his head back against the seat.

"Rough studying session?" teased James, reaching over to poke Remus in the stomach. Remus merely swatted his hand away and groaned as he sat up.

"Define rough," he muttered and then sighed a heavy sigh. "No, I'm just tired. The full moon is coming up and, as usual, I'm not exactly looking forward to it."

James nodded sympathetically and opened his mouth to say something but immediately closed it when he heard footsteps on the stairs. Sirius Black emerged moments later looking somewhat lost. For a moment, a panicked look flashed across Remus's face, but he quickly hid it. James, however, noticed and inwardly winced. _He must not want Black to know yet…or ever_, James thought.

"I have Transfiguration homework to finish don't I?" Sirius asked, appearing to be completely oblivious to everything that had just transpired there moments before.

Remus chuckled and stood up, stretching his arms and legs out as Sirius had earlier. "You probably do. Anyways, I'm going to go to bed. I'll see you both in the morning."

"Good night," Sirius said as Remus walked up the stairs. As he disappeared up the staircase, Sirius sat down in Remus's seat and turned to James with a serious expression on his face. "What was that about?" he asked interestedly.

"Nothing," replied James hastily, looking back at the Divination book that was resting in his lap. "We were just discussing our latest homework problems."

Sirius raised his eyebrows, apparently not believing a word that had just come from James's mouth but he didn't press the matter. "Anyways, what did we have for Transfiguration homework?"

James rolled his eyes and ignored his new friend. _Friend? _

-upstairs Gryffindor dormitory-

Remus sat down on his bed, contemplating how close Sirius had come to learning his carefully hidden problem. It was way too soon for Sirius to learn about his monthly condition. After all, he had only just met him and still wasn't entirely sure how much he trusted the young Black, despite wanting to become friends with him.

Plus, Black still presented so much mystery to Remus. He was still trying to figure out the murder that Sirius had witnessed and how he knew so many details. Sirius Black was indeed a puzzle that needed to be solved. His allegiances seemed to be divided to what he knew was right and what he had always been told was right.

Just then the object of Remus's ponderings stumbled into the dormitory. He seemed to be distracted and didn't really notice Remus. In his hands, Remus noted, was a letter with harsh, black writing addressing it to Sirius on the back. He seemed worried as he sat down on his bed, carefully examining the letter. It appeared to be unopened, Remus noted after careful observation of his own.

"A letter from your parents?" asked Remus, causing Sirius to look up, startled at the sudden voice.

"Um…yeah. It arrived just a few minutes ago."

"What does it say?" Remus immediately blushed as he realized what he just asked. "Sorry, I don't mean to pry. I just want to make sure you're okay."

Sirius smiled grimly and shook his head ever so slightly. "Nah, it's alright. Believe it or not, I don't mind prying, unless it's the spying kind of prying and then that's just lame. Anyways, I actually have no idea what it says. I haven't opened it yet."

Remus nodded wordlessly and watched as Sirius got up from his bed and walked over to sit at the end of Remus's. He glanced up at Remus, a small smirk on his face, before opening the letter carefully. Remus raised his eyebrows at the extreme caution that Sirius was using in opening the letter, but he didn't comment.

Despite the caution that Sirius used, as soon as the letter was opened, some pus-like substance poured out over his hands. Sirius flinched and immediately dropped the letter as if it were a spider. Remus immediately jumped up and rushed to the bathroom to get a towel to clean up Sirius's hands. In the meantime, Sirius just sat on the bed, staring at his hands as the pus began to boil and cause his hands to swell, rendering them useless.

"Um…yeah, Remus, do you think you could hurry up by any chance?" Sirius asked, an almost pleading tone going through his voice.

Remus hurried out of the bathroom with a damp towel in his hands. Sitting down next to Sirius and taking his hands in the towel, Remus attempted to clean the pus from his hands while his mind was racing with questions. What kind of parent would do that to their child, no matter how disappointed they were? Sure Sirius was not directly following his parents' dogma, but that didn't mean that he deserved to have his burned and swollen hands.

Remus drew the towel away to find that it had done no good. Sirius began to whimper ever so softly, not being able to tolerate the pain in silence anymore. Remus glanced up in mild sympathy before grabbing him by the upper arm and leading him out of the dormitory.

"Where are we going?" asked Sirius between his purposeful slowed breathing. It made it easier for him to endure the burning sting of the pus if was breathing slower for some reason.

"We're going to the nurse. She'll be able to clean up this mess simply…I hope."

"The nurse? Oh no, I do not want to go to the nurse. In fact, I refuse to go to the nurse," a stubborn Sirius declared, attempting to pull free from Remus's viselike grip.

Remus stopped and looked at the young Black with raised eyebrows. "What's wrong with Madam Pomfrey?" he asked, confused. Although she was strict, most of the students really liked her because she was so nice underneath her rough exterior.

Sirius became suddenly interested in his shoes and muttered a soft response.

"What was that? I couldn't hear you," Remus teased ever so slightly.

Sirius sighed loudly and then said, "I'm afraid of nurses, doctors, etc. Ever since I was a little kid, I've had bad experiences with doctors. They tend to not be very nice. In fact, downright cruel would probably be a better description."

"What doctors have you been visiting?" inquired Remus. In all of his experience with doctors and nurses, not one of them had seemed less than nice and certainly not downright cruel.

Sirius shrugged and didn't respond. Remus sighed in slight exasperation but stopped attempting to pull Sirius to the hospital wing. Instead he turned to Sirius and looked him straight in the eyes. "Sirius, do you trust me?"

Sirius narrowed his eyes ever so slightly, but nodded shortly anyways. "Alright, so in that case, do you really think I would lead you somewhere that could potentially hurt you more than you already are?"

For a moment, Sirius looked as if he was going to say yes, but then he slowly shook his head 'no'. Remus smiled gently and tried pulling on his arm again. This time Sirius glared at Remus but didn't fight when Remus started leading him again.

Yes, Sirius Black was indeed a strange character, Remus decided. Perhaps it wasn't so outlandish to trust him. Then again, he'd just have to wait and see.

A.N. I hate doing this. Updating once a month. I just…ah, I hardly have time to breathe, let alone write a chapter. Anyways, I'm so sorry you guys. Thanks for still reading and for being patient…or not, but if you're still reading then that's cool. Thanks and please review. I need to know what my frazzled mind can and cannot do. Thanks bye.


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

Sirius sat on one of the beds in the hospital wing, glancing around, waiting for the bustling Madam Pomfrey. The walls were white, pristine and clean. They sent involuntary shivers down Sirius's spine. The pictures hanging on the walls were merry, friendly and welcoming. They made Sirius want to curl up into a tight little ball in the bed.

_"This won't hurt at all..." _

Sirius gasped and looked around, wide eyed in his fear.

_"This won't hurt at all…"_

Madam Pomfrey came out of her office with some kind of potion in her hands and her wand tucked into her apron. "Drink up, now," she said, handing him the potion. She stood there and watched as he tipped the substance into his mouth. As soon as the last drop was consumed, she pulled out her wand and made toward him with it.

_"This is what you deserve. Now let's try a new way of healing your broken bones…" _

No,_ thought Sirius as the doctor came closer, his wand drawn. A maniacal smile lit up the doctor's face. Durmstrang wasn't known for its kind doctors. Especially towards the rebel of the school…namely, Sirius Black. If only he had not gotten into a fight with their favorite student. Then he wouldn't have a broken arm and he would not have to put up with any punishment the twisted doctor would come up with. _

_"Why do you flinch away from me in fear?" the doctor taunted, mock care lacing through his voice. "This won't hurt at all…" _

"What's wrong, Black?" asked Madam Pomfrey as Sirius scoot away from her. "This won't hurt at all. I've done it several times for students. Mainly because Professor Sprout doesn't make the students be more cautions but…that's not the point."

Sirius looked up at her with fear-filled eyes. Worry instantly crossed across the nurse's face and she set her wand down and sat down next to Sirius. Turning his face away from the kindly nurse, Sirius tried his best to ignore her and the memories that were overwhelming him.

_"Well, I think the muggle technique might help in this case," the nurse said as she pulled out a tray from her office. _

_Sirius did his best not to cringe away from the various needles he saw resting on the tray. It wasn't as if he even really needed medical assistance. He just had a fever, maybe a flu. He was hoping that she would just give him some kind of potion and then send him on his way. _

_"Or even better…" the nurse thought for a moment, then disappeared back into her office. She reemerged moments later with a tub full of water. "I heard that muggles will sometimes submerge the ill person in freezing water to lower the temperature." _

_Sirius's eyes widened. They were using him as a guinea pig! The nurse pushed the tub over to where Sirius's bed was and had him climb in. seeing no way out of his recent predicament, Sirius reluctantly obliged and immediately wished that he hadn't as his body met freezing water. _

_Growing impatient, the nurse pushed him in the rest of the way and cast some spell to make sure that he wouldn't attempt to escape. Then she pulled out one of her needles and made sure that some kind of medicine was inside. Sirius watched her warily. When she walked over to the young Black and plunged the needle into his arms. He bit back his scream of pain. _

(Gryffindor Common Room)

"So where were you, Peter?" James asked after Peter had walked in. Then, after thinking about it for a moment, he said instead, "Wait, never mind, that was a stupid question."

Peter rolled his eyes and laughed at his friend. "Yes, I was with Susan. Do you have a problem with that?"

"Just as long as I don't have to hear the details, no," teased James before looking back to his homework.

Peter turned to go upstairs to their dormitory but turned around as he reached the bottom of the stairs. "Where are Remus and Sirius? Are they upstairs?"

Shrugging, James looked up again. "I'm not sure. They both walked out of here about a half an hour ago. They were very secretive if you ask me."

At that moment, Remus walked in, looking tired and worried. Peter looked over at him and immediately asked what was wrong.

Remus looked up. "Nothing's wrong with me. However, Sirius was just attacked by one of his letters."

"You mean that letter that came about an hour ago?" asked James, standing up and walking over to his friend.

"I guess. It had that weird kind of pus that Professor Sprout warned us about. It was all over his hands and it was just…ew, kinda disgusting."

"Well where is Sirius?" Peter asked, also moving over towards Remus.

"I just took him to the hospital wing."

"Did his parents send it to him?" James asked, now worried for Sirius. Despite having only just become his friend, James felt oddly protective of Sirius, even though he was well aware that Sirius could fight for himself and protect himself.

Remus just shrugged, though. "We didn't exactly get around to reading the letter. We were kind of distracted by the pus that was hurting Sirius's hands."

James gave a half laugh at himself and nodded ever so slightly. "Well, should we read it for him?"

Remus shrugged and walked up the staircase without giving a direct answer. James and Peter followed. When they entered the dormitory, they could clearly see the letter resting on the bed. Remus cautiously walked over to it and picked it up by the corner.

"James, why don't you get the letter out and read it?" suggested Remus, clearly not wanting to get the pus on his hands. James rolled his eyes at Remus's attempt at self-preservation but carefully pulled the letter out anyways.

"Alright…well that's odd," he said after a moment.

"What?" asked Remus and Peter simultaneously.

James didn't answer and instead just showed them the letter.

_This is not the end, Black. No Black can turn their back on their family, their destiny. Be warned. We will not stop until you are either on our side…or dead. _

_Signed, _

_ Your Slytherin Pals _

(In Dumbledore's office)

"Albus, surely there's something you can do," Madame Pomfrey exclaimed, pacing around Dumbledore's office.

"What would you have me do, Madame?" Dumbledore asked, standing from his desk in his agitation.

"I don't know! But this boy was clearly abused! Those who were supposed to protect him didn't! Instead they hurt him for being an individual. Imagine that! And these are sworn doctors and nurses, who are supposed to care for people, not treat them cruelly," she ranted. "And I have a feeling that what he told me wasn't everything."

"I know," sighed Dumbledore. "However, if we do manage to get a court trial, which would be incredibly difficult in the first place, then not only do we have to be able to provide substantial evidence, but Mr. Black would have to testify and relate all the things that have happened to him in the court, which could be incredibly psychologically damaging."

"But Albus-"

"Not right now, Poppy. I have a feeling that events will soon unfold that will show us the correct path. Until then, the only thing we can do is be patient and watch. Hopefully, until the time comes, that will be enough…it has to be enough."

A.N. Now I'm just pulling random crap out of my head. But hopefully it will work. I think so. Anyways, please review, and thanks for reading.


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

Several days had passed since the Slytherins sent Sirius the pus filled envelope and they were already planning their next move against the young Black heir.

"What else could we do to him that could make him turn back to us?" asked Narcissa quietly. Malfoy, Snape, and the Black sisters were sitting in the Slytherin common room discussing a new plan. "He apparently doesn't react to threats."

"Then we'll manipulate him," a cunning Lucius responded smoothly.

"How?" asked Bellatrix. "He may be a blood traitor but he's not stupid. He'll know if we try to manipulate him directly."

Lucius rolled his eyes. "We aren't going to manipulate Sirius. We're going to manipulate his "friends" into believing that he is the enemy. The trust that is between them is so fragile that one small thread of disbelief will unravel their entire friendship."

Severus looked at Lucius as if he had grown an extra eyeball in the middle of his forehead. "How are we going to do that? Potter and his friends won't even listen to us, let alone believe us if we actually get to talk to them."

A sly smile crept over the Slytherin's face. "Well, Severus, I do believe that this is where you come into the picture…"

(Great Hall)

"Well, so far the post has come in for you without leaving any bodily damage behind," teased Peter as Sirius gingerly picked up the edge of one of his most recent letters.

"Yeah, I'm just lucky I guess," he responded half-heartedly. Peter raised his eyebrows at Sirius's listless response but didn't otherwise react.

Ever since the pus filled letter, Sirius had been extremely cautious and even withdrawn from the rest of them. On countless nights, Peter was kept up listening to Sirius's reactions to his nightmares. He would toss and turn, groaning and whimpering. An occasional guttural scream could also be heard as well. Peter wasn't the only one who heard it though. He knew that James and Remus were kept awake, listening in mild horror to the terrible noise Sirius made. He knew that they, like him, were trying to imagine what could possibly be troubling their new friend.

Peter glanced over at Sirius. He was picking at his food, sluggish and tired. Over his shoulder, Peter saw a bird flying towards their general direction. Peter expected the owl to swoop gently over their breakfast and to drop whatever it was carrying. However, it flew right into Sirius's head, causing him to jerk. The owl let out a shrill shriek before pulling away from Sirius.

"Ow!" exclaimed Sirius. "That owl just pulled out some of my hair." He put his hand up to his head to soothe the pain.

"That was interesting," Remus commented dryly, looking after the owl which had flown out the way it had just entered. James just chuckled at his friends and continued eating his breakfast.

(Lily's group of friends)

"He's so…handsome," Natalie, a brown haired fifth year Gryffindor said, staring over at Sirius with big brown eyes. Lily scoffed and rolled her eyes. She did look over at him, though.

"Alright, he is incredibly handsome. But there's more to him than just physical appearances," Lily said. She was too distracted by what she had just seen happen at the other end of the table. The last thing she had ever expected was for the owl to attack Sirius's head. It was so…strange that there didn't even seem to be much of an explanation.

"Lily…Lily?" A hand started waving in front of Lily's eyes and she was suddenly back to sitting at the table with her friends, out of her contemplative mood.

"Huh? What? I'm sorry, I was thinking something over," Lily stammered, looking around at her three closest friends.

"Yeah, sure," teased Jennifer, a short blonde haired girl with blue eyes that sparkled with mischief almost all the time. "You were just staring at the three best looking guys in Hogwarts."

"And everyone knows that James has had you in his sights for the past three years," joined in Anne, her brown hair bouncing around her round face as she spoke enthusiastically.

Lily simply rolled her eyes. "Yeah, but for the whole "crush" thing to work, his feelings have to be reciprocated."

Her three friends shared knowing looks and turned back to Lily with expectant expressions on their faces. Lily sighed and got up. She was not in the mood to be teased by her friends…again. So, instead, she walked over to where the four boys were sitting. On her way over there, however, she ran into Susan.

"Oh, hey, Susan," Lily said, taking a step backwards away from the brown haired girl. "Sorry for running into you. I'm really distracted and wasn't pay much attention to where I was going."

"Oh, it's not problem," she replied, brushing her hair out of her eyes and smiled a dazzling smile. She glanced over her shoulder at where the four boys were sitting. "Does someone have a new love interest?" she teased gently.

Lily rolled her eyes. "No, I was just heading over to see if Sirius was alright after that owl flew into his head."

Susan raised her eyebrows. "So an owl really did fly into his head?" She glanced over at Sirius and laughed ever so slightly. "I thought the people at the Hufflepuff table were all insane."

Lily chuckled weakly. "Yeah…anyways, I should probably head off to class now. it looks like we have less time than I thought. So…I'll see you in Charms?"

She smiled and nodded. "Alright, see you later!" Susan walked off with a small wave. Lily watched her walk away before following.

James, from over at the table, watched her as she walked away. He didn't understand why she didn't like him. What wasn't there to like? He was reasonably attractive, smart, funny, and athletic. _Maybe she doesn't like jocks,_ he thought bitterly as he picked up his bag to walk off to class. Around him, Sirius, Remus, and Peter were teasing each other mindlessly.

_What could I do to make her like me more?_ he wondered dimly. _Maybe I could try giving her flowers. Or I could write her a poem…yes! A poem is a brilliant idea! Um…roses are red, violets are blue, I love cookies, but not as much as you… No that is the ultimate lame. Maybe I could-_ CRASH!

James fell sprawling to the ground. Remus and Sirius immediately bent over to help him up and to make sure he was alright. Opening his eyes to see what he had run into, James found that the surrounding world was blurry and indistinct. _Oh_, he thought, _I don't have my glasses on anymore._ He began to feel around for them, but Sirius grabbed his wrist and put the glasses in his hand.

"Thanks, mate," he said, putting them on and looking around. There was a pillar standing right in front of him. "I don't remember that being there," James muttered bitterly, getting to his feet and rubbing his forehead. Already he could feel the beginnings of a headache. "Who moved the pillar?"

Remus rolled his eyes. "The staircases move, not the pillars," he said. "You just have a bad habit of forgetting to watch where you're going."

James didn't protest to that. "Are you alright though?" Sirius asked, sounding worried. James just nodded, knowing that speaking would give him a bigger headache. Instead, he put his finger to his lips, indicating that silence would probably be best for his most recent condition.

Remus and Sirius both shook their heads and followed James as he walked to their class, both of them talking softly all of a sudden. As the three boys disappeared around the corner, a red head girl stepped out from the shadows in a corridor, a small smile spreading across her face. Maybe, just maybe, James Potter wasn't _so_ bad.

_I'll just have to wait and see…_she thought and followed them to her next class.

A.N. Um…yeah, not much happens but it sets up the next few chapters. Yeah, so review please. And thanks for reading. Adios.


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

"It's almost ready," muttered Severus as he lounged in an armchair by the Slytherin fireplace. Lucius nodded at him in approval from where he was sitting on his couch. Narcissa sat next to him and Bellatrix sat across.

"Excellent," he hissed, a smile forming over his face. "Now all we have to do is find the perfect time to execute our plan."

"Well, it'd have to be sometime that we could be certain that he wouldn't randomly show up," Bellatrix said, sitting back against her seat, contemplating ways to make their plan work.

"A simple sleeping draught can remedy that," came the smooth reply from Lucius. "Our real obstacle is convincing his friends that he is indeed an enemy and is not to be trusted."

"Well," pondered Narcissa, "we should probably try to convince Potter first, simply because he already doesn't really trust Black."

A maniacal smile lit up Lucius's face. "I have an idea."

"I'm so hungry I could eat…well, I could eat a lot," muttered Sirius as he stretched his arms out. It was late and he was sitting doing his homework in the Gryffindor common room.

Remus and James exchanged a glance before looking back to Sirius. "Well," James began slowly, "we could show you where the kitchen is located, but you'd have to keep it a secret."

Sirius raised his eyebrows. "You know where the kitchen is?"

Laughing at his comment, James responded, "Of course I do. And so will you in a minute. Just a minute though." With that said, James spun around and ran up to their dormitory. Confused, Sirius turned to look at Remus with questioning eyes. However, he just rolled his eyes and went back to reading his book. Moments later, James returned with a cloak in his hand.

Sirius stood up and walked over to him but stopped short. "An invisibility cloak?" he asked, his voice low.

James nodded proudly. "Yes it is. Now, do you want to go get food or not?"

Sirius just nodded and allowed James to drape the cloak over their heads. Moments later, the portrait opened and soft footsteps could be heard departing. Remus watched the portrait close before closing his book.

He was exhausted. The full moon was tomorrow and it was going to be a tough one. Not only did he have to make up excuses to tell Sirius, but he also had to face it alone. Since James and Peter had become animagi, they had been more bearable and he had had less wounds. This time, though, it would be too dangerous for James and Peter to accompany him. Sirius would certainly be suspicious if not only Remus vanished, but the entire dorm disappeared.

"Hey, Remus," a voice called out from the stairs. He looked up to see Peter standing there. He walked over and sat down in the chair opposite of Remus. "What's up?"

Remus shrugged. "Nothing, unless you want to count the ceiling."

Peter rolled his eyes. "Where are James and Sirius?"

"I do believe that James is escorting Sirius to the kitchen."

"Oh, that sounds…exciting." Awkward silence fell between the two boys as they both gazed into the fire. "Do you get the feeling," asked Peter suddenly, "that we're getting replaced?"

Remus immediately turned his gaze back on Peter. "What do you mean?"

"Well, it just seems that James has been spending a lot of time with Sirius. I mean, when was the last time he spent time with us?"

Remus honestly didn't know how to respond to this. It was true that James had been spending a lot of time with Sirius recently, but that didn't mean that they were going to be replaced. James and Sirius were so alike yet different at the same time that it almost seemed like it was destiny for them to become friends.

"I think," Remus started slowly, "I think James has been spending a lot of time with Sirius, but not that he's replacing us. I mean, he's spent four years with us and he's spent a total of a week with Sirius. And regardless to that, I think whatever happens happens and we can't change it."

Peter raised his eyebrows but didn't comment. Instead he stood up, mumbled a quick good night and went off to bed. Remus sat there staring after him for a moment before opening his book again.

The next morning, Peter woke up to the sounds of chattering in the next bed. It was James, Remus, and Sirius. Peter's eyes narrowed ever so slightly. Who was Sirius Black to take his place? A year ago, that would have been _him_ sitting there, relating his most recent escapades, even though he rarely had any. However, it was simply a joy to listen to James and Remus. But now it was _Sirius _that they were talking to. It was _Sirius _who was laughing at James's jokes. It was _Sirius _who was teasing Remus for being a killjoy. Peter sighed softly and lay still to listen to what they were talking about.

"Yeah, so I'm in detention with my potions Professor and supposedly I'm writing "I will not disrupt class with obscene comments" over and over. He steps out of the room for a moment and I do some quick spell work so when he walks back into the room and the chalk board starts talking to him." Sirius pauses here in his story to let James and Remus chuckle a bit at the thought of walking into a classroom and having a chalk board talk to them. "Anyways, it's saying stuff like "Yo mama's so dumb she stole a free sample" and, my personal favorite, "Yo mom's so dumb that she got ran over by a parked car. And of course fun insults like "If ignorance is bliss, you must be the happiest person alive" and "I see the wheel spinning, but the hamster is definitely dead". So of course the Professor gets incredibly angry, like seriously livid. So he tries his hardest to use a counter curse against the chalk board and it just keeps out spitting out insults. So finally he just gives up and somehow it blows up. So he's standing there with a charred black face. And he just stands there before turning around and leaving. He didn't say a word."

James and Remus burst into laughter. Peter could tell that Remus probably had his arms around his chest to stop the inevitable pain that was coming from laughing too hard. James probably had his head back as he laughed. Peter narrowed his eyes in bitter envy.

"Okay, alright, I've got a joke for you," James said, as his laughter came to a slow halt. He was panting ever so slightly. "Alright, so there were these two muffins sitting in an oven and being cooked and all that jazz. Anyways, one of the muffins turns to the other and says 'Man it's hot in here!'. The other muffin looks at him in surprise and exclaims, 'Look! A talking muffin!'."

Sirius and Remus burst into laughter. Peter could hear Sirius's loud, bark-like laugh and could just imagine him about to fall off the bed. _I hope it hurts if he does,_ Peter thought bitterly.

"Maybe we should go down for breakfast?" suggested Remus after his laughter had died down.

James chuckled and replied, "Sounds like a good idea. But shouldn't we wake up Peter?"

For an instant, Peter felt a happy warm glow. At least James cared about him. But then he heard Sirius, "Nah, he'll come down later. We're going to be early so waking him up right now would just be mean."

Remus chuckled. "So is that the ultimate evil? Waking a person up early?"

"Against their will, yes," a serious Sirius replied.

James laughed again. Peter could hear him stand up and then the other three. "I guess we'll just see him down there then."

"Sounds good," Sirius said. Moments later, silence filled the dormitory. They had left him. Peter stared at the top of his bed. He didn't care what Remus had said. He had been replaced, there was no doubt about it.

Meanwhile, downstairs, Sirius had found a particular someone that caught his eyes. She was walking down from the girls' dormitories with Lily. Immediately he came to a stop and watched her. James and Remus turned back to look for him and when they noticed who he was staring at they rolled their eyes and continued walking down to breakfast.

Lily caught his gaze looking at her friend and she covered her mouth with her hand to stifle her laugh. Sirius somehow managed to shake himself out of his daze and walked over to the two girls.

"Hello, my name's Sirius Black," he said, holding out his hand for her to shake. "Care to tell me yours?"

The girl laughed, her chocolate brown eyes dancing in amusement. "My name's Angelica, but most people just call me Angie for short," she replied, shaking his hand in return. Carefully, she tossed her dark brown hair over her shoulder. Sirius smiled ever so slightly.

"Angie…hmm, well, perhaps you would like to have a study session with me sometime today?" he offered, cocking his head to the side. Inwardly he was praying to whatever god that would listen that she would say yes.

A soft smile graced Angie's lips as she considered his offer. "I think," she said slowly, "that would be a good idea. Would you like to meet after breakfast?"

"Sure. Is here good?"

"Excellent."

"I'll see you later then," he said and walked away, turning back to give her a quick wave.

Lily watched as he left and then turned her gaze to her friend, who was still staring at the spot that he had just been standing in. "Angie…Angie!" Lily exclaimed, snapping her fingers in front of her face.

Angie snapped back to reality and turned to face Lily. "What?"

"You just made a date to "study" with Sirius Black," Lily said, raising her eyebrows.

"Yeah, so what? He seems very nice. Getting to know him is going to be fun. Plus, he's your friend too, so what's the problem?"

Lily rolled her eyes at her friends lack of common sense. "The problem is Sirius Black doesn't study!"

A small, impish smile lit up Angie's face. "Who said that was a problem?"

A.N. This is my Christmas present to you all. The real stuff happens in the next chapter. I have it almost written I just need to…fix some things. Anyways, happy holidays and thank you for reading and reviewing. Until later…


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16

"That was a very good breakfast," a satisfied Sirius said as he finished eating his eggs.

James looked over at him with raised eyebrows. "It's the same thing you have for breakfast everyday, Sirius. What makes it so special today?"

Sirius shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe I think breakfast is very good every morning but just don't feel like commenting on it all the time."

Remus laughed while Peter rolled his eyes. "Whatever," muttered James.

Over at the Hufflepuff table, Peter watched as Susan got up. "I'll see you guys later," Peter said and got up to follow her. James watched as his friend wrapped his arm around Susan's waist and watched how they walked away. For a moment, he was struck with envy before he shook it away. Someday he would have that kind of a relationship with someone. Hopefully a particular someone with red hair and green eyes.

Speaking of that particular someone, James watched as she got up and quickly bid her friends good bye. Glancing around at his friends, James also got up.

"I think I'm going to go to the common room," he announced to his friends. Sirius and Remus looked up at him, startled, but one glance around quickly told them that "common room" was really code language for "Lily Evans". "Would either of you like to accompany me?"

Remus shook his head ever so slightly. "No, I've got to go study for a test. If either of you decide to actually study as well, you may join me in the library." With that said, he got up and walked away after gathering his books.

James raised his eyebrows after his friend's retreating back before turning to Sirius. "Well, it looks like it's just you and me."

Sirius shook his head. "I can't," he muttered. "I've got other plans."

"Oh really?"

Nodding, Sirius also stood up. "I'll see you back in the common room later tonight."

With that said, he turned and left the same way that Remus had moments before. James watched him walk away, confusion filling his mind. What other plans could Sirius possibly have?

_Ah well,_ James thought. _I've got to go find Lily. Maybe she'll say yes today…_

James picked up his book bag and slung it over his shoulder. As he was exiting the Great Hall, he bumped into Malfoy and Snape.

"Watch where you're going, slime," James snapped. For once they didn't come back with a retort. They just glared at him and then proceeded to walk away. Confused, James watched them walk away. It was definitely turning out to be a weird day.

Meanwhile, Peter was walking with Susan around the school, his arm around her shoulders and her head resting on his shoulders.

"So," Susan said, breaking the silence, "how's your friendship with Sirius Black going?"

Peter laughed somewhat bitterly, causing Susan to look up at him with raised eyebrows. "It's going just swell," he hissed. "I mean, who does he think he is? He comes in, I befriend him, give him a chance, and then he takes my place. _My_ place! And does he even thank me? Of course not. He's Sirius Black. He's better than me, cooler than me, better looking than me. And apparently, he's a better friend than me!"

Susan pulled away from him, causing them to both come to a stop. "Peter, perhaps you're over exaggerating. Sirius seems like a nice guy, but I highly doubt that Remus and James will replace you just like that. You've been their friend for four years, while they've only known Sirius for a couple of weeks."

Peter rolled his eyes. "Yeah, that's what Remus said. Almost word for word." He sighed and shook his head. "Maybe I am just over exaggerating. I've always been paranoid."

Susan smiled and allowed him to wrap his arm around her shoulder again. "So," she started again, "did you do your charms homework?"

There she was. Lily Evans was standing there, chatting with her friends. Her red hair seemed to shine in the dim lighting of Hogwarts's hallways. Her green eyes sparkled with laughter and enjoyment. Her smile was illuminating and seemed to spread joy to those around her. Her laugh was strong, inspiring. She was absolutely amazing in every single way. How could James Potter _not_ be in love with her?

James stood there, watching her, completely enamored by her every movement. Today was the day. Today was the day that she would accept a date with James Potter. Emboldened by his surge of confidence, James decided to show himself and walked around the corner, a mild strut in his step.

"Hello, Evans," he said cheerfully, walking over to her confidently. "How are you this fine day?"

Lily scoffed and rolled her eyes. "What do you want Potter?"

"Same thing I always want. A date and a kiss."

"Let me think…NO!"

James physically wilted. "Oh come on Evans. I'm the perfect kind of guy. I'm attractive, athletic, and incredibly intelligent. You should be falling madly in love with me!"

"James Potter, you are such an arrogant jerk that it would be impossible for me to have feelings for you beyond my deep disliking of you!" Lily yelled angrily before spinning on her heel and spinning away from the embarrassed and saddened teenage boy. James stood staring after her forlornly. After a moment he too began to walk to the Gryffindor dormitories.

Deep down he knew why Lily still didn't really like him. Deep down he knew that he probably should stop hexing Snape if he wanted to get a date with Lily. He just didn't know how to stop being an arrogant show-off around her. Every time she was around he couldn't help but demonstrate his amazing talent with curses. Of course she wasn't impressed, but James simply didn't know how to act around her. Maybe Remus would help. He was generally good with the ladies…when he wanted to anyways.

James was forming a new step to his Operation-Get-Lily-Evans-To-Fall-In-Love-With-Me plan when he heard voices around the corner. Immediately he recognized them as Malfoy and the Black sisters. He came to a halt and listened in intensely for a moment. The fourth voice, much to James's surprise, sounded a lot like Sirius. _That's ridiculous,_ thought James, internally chuckling at the madness of that idea. _Sirius is our friend, and on our side. Why would he be talking to Slytherins? _

Just to be certain, though, James took a quick peek around the corner. Instantly, his heart was chilled with the sight that met his eyes. It was indeed Sirius Black with Lucius Malfoy and Bellatrix and Narcissa Black. On closer inspection, they seemed to be plotting something together, as they were huddled closely together and speaking in hushed voices. Or, at least they did until Sirius apparently got angry.

"That is a completely stupid idea!" he bellowed angrily. "We want to assist the Dark Lord, not destroy him!"

"Sirius," whispered Narcissa urgently. "Lower your voice."

Malfoy simply sighed. "What makes you think that recruiting Potter for the Dark Lord would bring about his downfall?"

James, upon hearing his name, leaned closer ever so slightly to hear Sirius's reply.

"Potter is too smart for that. He'd as soon as kill Voldemort as join him. It would be like a death sentence to take Potter to him," Sirius explained in frustration.

"So you think Potter is an actual threat to him?" Bellatrix asked, raising her eyebrows in amusement.

"From a certain point of view, yes," he answered. "If Potter doesn't destroy him, he will be sufficiently weakened so the rest of the wizard community would be able to rally against him and easily dispose of him."

"I think we should take the risk," Narcissa spoke up. "If we can somehow manipulate Potter into joining then we will have gained a powerful ally."

"And how do you plan to do that?" demanded Sirius.

Malfoy turned to Sirius, an unpleasant smile on his face. "That's where you come in, Sirius." Sirius looked at him with raised eyebrows, his arms crossed across his chest. "You need to convince him that supporting the Dark Lord is the only thing worth living for. Which, it is."

Sirius considered this idea before abruptly nodding. "I don't like the initial plan in the first place, but I'll do my best. If it doesn't work within a month or two, though, we'll need to think of something else."

Malfoy nodded before walking away. Bellatrix and Narcissa shortly followed. Sirius stood watching them go before following. James just stood where he was, back against the wall. He had known that it would be a bad idea to give Sirius a chance. He had known that eventually they would be betrayed by the young Black. He had known that anything involving a person from a dark family would end in destruction and pain. But he had let down his guard, for Remus's sake, and had befriended him. And now, now that he knew he was going to be betrayed as a cold hard fact, it hurt more than ever.

Slowly, James started walking to the Gryffindor common room again. For the time being, he wouldn't tell anyone. He wanted to have a chat with Sirius Black first. As he reached the portrait, he muttered the password and started to walk in.

Only to run into a very solid figure with red hair hurrying out of the common room. However, James was so absorbed in his own thoughts that he barely even recognized her. Lily immediately noticed and stopped.

"Potter, is everything alright?" she asked hesitantly. James spun around, evidently momentarily broken out of his train of thought.

"Oh, yeah, I'm alright. Thanks for asking Lily," he responded and continued up to his dormitory. Lily stood staring after him, her heart racing. A small smile tugged on her lips. That was the side of James Potter that she wished she could see more often. Regardless of how she was suddenly feeling towards him, something was wrong.

A.N. Sorry it's taken me so long to update. I hope you like this chapter. The next one should be equally intense. Thanks for reading and please review.


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17

The library was the perfect place. It allowed quiet for studying, reading, or relaxing. Madam Sharp, the librarian, was a cheerful lady, usually bubbly and always ready to assist some student.

Yes, the library was definitely one of Lily Evan's favorite places. It was her place of escape. Escape from the other girls' expectations, escape from the loud noise that frequently gave her headaches, and escape from James Potter's constant proposals. Yes, the library was a place of peace and solitude.

And this was where Lily decided to go after her disturbing run-in with James Potter. She had never seen him so…so distracted and hurt by something. Not only that, but he had called her Lily. James Potter made it a point to never call her Lily. Lily sighed and turned the corner that led to the library.

And ran straight into Sirius Black.

"I am so sorry," he muttered, offering his hand to help her up. She took it and carefully righted herself.

"It's alright," she responded. "Just try to watch where you're going."

She glanced at him and immediately did a double take. The young Black heir looked nothing like he usually did. He looked disoriented, as if he had just awakened. His clothes and hair were bedraggled as if he had either just woken up or been in a fight.

"Sirius," Lily began, her eyes wide. "What happened to you?"

He shook his head numbly, his gray eyes darting around. "Honestly," he began, licking his lips nervously, "honestly I don't really know." A panicked look crossed his face. "I don't know…" he muttered to himself, one of his hands dragging through his messy hair.

"Sirius, calm down," Lily said, placing her hands on his shoulders, trying to placate him. He glanced down at her and met her eyes. "Come on, let's go chat in the library."

"So, _Sirius_, I think you greatly abetted our cause," Lucius drawled cheerfully, leaning into the plushy armchair.

Around him sat the Black sisters and Sirius. "Do you think this will work?" asked Bellatrix, ever the pessimistic one.

"I don't see why not," Sirius said, crossing his arms in frustration. "Unless you're doubting my skills as a persuader."

"Oh, never," a sarcastic Lucius replied. He glanced at his watch and then nodded. It was time.

"So you have no idea where you were over the past hour?" Lily asked, raising her eyes in disbelief. At first she was thinking that Sirius was just trying to prank her. Now, though, she could see that he was genuinely terrified at the thought of having no idea where he had been for an hour. Unless he was a very good actor…

"All I remember is leaving the Great Hall in an excellent mood. But someone was following me and I didn't really think much of it because it didn't seem important. Until I kinda just walked into…a wall? I don't know…everything went black, that's as far as my memory extends."

A worried expression crossed Lily's face. Something was in the air, and it didn't seem pleasant.

James sat in a daze in the armchairs in front of the fireplace in the Gryffindor Common Room. What he was feeling was past betrayal by now. It settled more on a deep pain that was numbing to both the body and the mind.

Really, James was surprised at how quickly he and Sirius had bonded. It was more like they were two halves of one person rather than two friends who had just met. And to think, James had been keeping his guard up. He had known that something like that would happen, but he had-against his better judgment- befriended him regardless. _Well I won't make that mistake again_, he thought bitterly, staring at his hands blindly.

"Hey James," a voice came from behind him. James turned around and saw Peter.

"Oh, hey Peter," James replied, sounding defeated.

"Is everything alright?" asked Peter, sitting down across from him. James nodded and turned his gaze back to the fireplace.

"Yeah," he said blankly, "everything's fine…perfect. Have you seen Sirius or Remus?"

Bubbling anger momentarily filled Peter, but he suppressed and answered, "Remus is upstairs, studying. I haven't seen Sirius since we ate breakfast."

"Thanks Peter," James said, standing up and running his hand through his hair in exhaustion. "I'll see you later." With those words said, he walked out the portrait door.

Peter watched him go, anger once again rising up in his chest. Was he now not even worth talking to? Was he so boring that immediately a substitute was desired? Was he so bad a friend that a better one was needed?

This was all Sirius's fault. He was slowly tearing apart his friendship with James Potter and Remus Lupin. And there was absolutely nothing he could do about it.

Or was there…

And there he was. The one who had betrayed them all. The one who had fought his way into their lives only to destroy them. The one who James Potter had once mistakenly considered his friend.

Sirius Black was walking away from the library, Lily Evans by his side. When she saw him, though, she quickly said good bye to Sirius and left. Sirius waved good bye to her and then walked up to James.

"Hey, James," he said, smiling at him. "You'll never believe what happened-"

James scoffed slightly. "Oh, I'm pretty sure I'd believe it at this point."

A confused look crossed Sirius's face. "Um…alright. Are you alright, because you seem to be a little bit off today." He chuckled ever so slightly. _I'm out of it for an hour and the entire school loses it. _

"I didn't know you'd be one to give in so easily but you proved me wrong," James snapped, walking in the opposite direction of Sirius. Sirius stood in the same position that James left him in, slightly dumbfounded.

Gaining his senses back, Sirius quickly followed James. "What are you talking about, James? How did I give in?"

James quickened his pace so as to avoid Sirius, but he also sped up. "I saw you talking to those Slytherins. I heard what you said. I know that you don't really care about us. You're just using us in a sick plot or something," he responded over his shoulder.

"What are you talking about?" called out Sirius. James stopped for a moment and turned around to face him, fury fighting to control his face.

"Around the corner, not a about an hour ago. You were talking to Malfoy and your cousins. You were discussing your plans for the Dark Lord's total domination and how you were willing to manipulate me into joining him."

"The Dark Lord? James, I don't even follow him, and you know it. Why would I try to get you to join him if it's not even something I believe in?"

"Don't you? I'm not sure I know anything anymore, Sirius Black. For all I know, everything has been a lie. From day one you could have been lying to us." James turned again on his heels and walked away again. Sirius immediately followed. Things were slowly starting to make sense in his mind. The owl, the looks, the strange person in the halls.

"What if I told you that it wasn't me and that I have no idea what you're even talking about?" Sirius asked, grabbing James's arm.

Angrily, James spun about. "I'd say you were lying," he snapped, wrenching his arm out of Sirius's grasp.

Sirius grabbed onto James's arm again. "But what if I wasn't?" Sirius demanded. James stopped and turned around to meet Sirius's eyes.

"Ah, but what if you were."

Angie sighed angrily, walking over to Lily, who was sitting in the common room reading a book.

"He stood me up," she moaned, flopping in one of the chairs dramatically.

"What?"

"Sirius Black-he never showed up to our "study date"."

Lily sighed and closed her book. "I'm not entirely sure that it was his fault," she said. Angie raised her eyebrows in confusion. Lily elaborated, "Something's going on that involves Sirius…and I don't think any of us can control it anymore."

A.N. Yeah…I'm sorry I took so long, as usual. I got involved as a musician in a musical. It's incredibly time consuming. But totally fun and worthy. Anyways, I hope you liked this chapter. Please review and I'll update as fast as I possibly can.


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter 18

James Potter walked into the common room a few hours later, looking sad and depressed. Lily looked up at him as he walked inside and then went back to her studying. For some odd reason, he and Sirius were once again at odds with each other. It showed on both of their faces too.

Lily sighed. About an hour earlier, Sirius had walked in with the same dejected expression on his face. It must have had something to do with earlier when Sirius was so disoriented, but it didn't really make sense. Then again, nothing was really making sense anymore.

Upstairs, Remus was lying on his bed, resting his eyes. When James entered the room, he sat up and gazed at his distraught friend.

"Hey, James, what's wrong?" he asked, looking concerned.

James shrugged helplessly and wandered around in a short circle before sitting down on his bed and burying his face in his hands. "Everything's so messed up, Remus," James choked out, sounding angry. "And it's all Black's fault!" At these words, he gazed up at Remus. "We should never have trusted him."

"Why, what happened?" What could Sirius have possibly done to upset James so deeply?

James scoffed. "He did exactly what I thought he would do. He gained our trust and then broke it."

"How do you figure?"

"He was consorting with the enemy, plotting to destroy us all."

Finally losing his patience with James, Remus exclaimed, "James, could you _please_ just tell me what happened?"

Surprised, James looked over at him with raised eyebrows, but he gradually sighed and relayed all that he had heard to Remus. Remus listened with raised eyebrows and disbelief. But James seemed so sure of himself that it was difficult to doubt him. If he and Sirius had still been enemies, then Remus would have no problem dismissing the story as an over exaggeration. However, the two boys had become almost inseparable over the past few weeks. Why would James weave such a crazy tale?

Meanwhile, down in the dungeon area of the school, Peter lurked about looking for a particular Slytherin.

"What are you doing here?" snapped an unfriendly voice. Peter spun around and came face to face with Lucius Malfoy and Severus Snape. Snape had a bundle of robes in his arms and was trying to hide them from Peter's view by stepping slightly behind Malfoy.

"I-I-I…um, actually, I w-was thinking about a-a-asking y-you for help," he stammered, shrinking back ever so slightly. This was not going the way that he had hoped it would.

Lucius raised his eyebrows. "We don't help Gryffindors," he snarled softly before turning on his heels to walk away, Snape following him.

"It involves someone you might be interested in," Peter called after them. Lucius stopped and slowly turned around.

"Do I get to learn the name of this person?" he hissed, coming up close to Peter, forcing him to take a step backwards.

"Y-y-yes, it's Sirius Black," he squeaked in response. A delighted expression flashed over Lucius's face before it was quickly replaced by his typical scornful look.

"Hmm, yes, and if I did help you, what would be in it for me?" Snape looked at Malfoy as if he had lost his mind. Help a Gryffindor? It was simply implausible. However, Lucius looked as if he were seriously considering it. Well, then again, anything to get to Sirius Black…

"Hey, Lily," Sirius called out, rushing over to her and sitting in the chair across from her.

"Yes, Sirius?" she asked, raising her eyebrows in mild amusement. Sometimes she swore that he was bipolar. One moment he was dreary and upset and the next he was energetic and ecstatic.

"I need you to tell me everything you know about polyjuice potion."

Taken aback, Lily asked, "Why?"

"Just trust me on this one," Sirius sighed. "I need to know anything and everything."

"I really can't believe Sirius would be so…traitorous," Remus said, sighing. It was still a lot to swallow, but he couldn't figure out any reason for James to lie about something so serious.

James shook his head slightly and looked down. "Thing is, I didn't believe it either. But it's kinda hard to believe in something that your own eyes and ears have just disproved."

Remus nodded. He had started to think of Sirius as one of his closest friends. He had even been considering letting him in on his secret. Apparently that wasn't too good an idea. He chuckled under his breath ever so slightly. It was amazing how quickly the circumstances had changed.

"Well, what are we going to do now?" he asked, breathing deeply to help the pain of the betrayal ebb away.

James just shrugged. "I don't know," he muttered helplessly. "I really don't know."

"Is that all you know?" Sirius asked Lily after she had told him everything she knew about Polyjuice potion. She nodded ever so slightly, exasperated.

"Sirius, what's gong on? I run into you earlier and you're a mess. You didn't know where you were, what you had been doing, you looked like you'd just gotten into a fight, and you stood up Angie. Now you and James are fighting after you have become good friends. What happened?"

Sirius sighed and shrugged. It didn't make any sense to him either. Inside he was terrified about what could have happened. If he was right, it meant that "he" could have said anything and James would have heard it. And believed it. There was nothing more believable than hearing something out of someone's own mouth. However, that also meant that it would be twice as hard to convince James that what he had heard was a lie. In fact, it would probably be nearly impossible.

"Alright, Lily, I'm not sure what happened, but I think the Slytherins used polyjuice potion in order to somehow convince James that I was evil while looking like me."

Confused, Lily asked, "How does that help them and why do they care?"

Sirius rolled his eyes. "I'm a Black. I should, by all rights, be in Slytherin and that's where they want me. To them, I don't belong in Gryffindor-and maybe I don't. But that's where I am, and I like it. They probably figure that if I didn't like it, I'd ask for a resorting and end up with them. That way they could control me all they wanted and I'd be like their pet poodle."

Comprehension flashed across Lily's face. "Oh, that actually makes sense!" Her excited expression was immediately replaced with worry. "But that means that James and Remus hate you."

Sirius shrugged. "Probably. I'll just have to…convince them otherwise I guess."

Sympathetic, Lily patted him on the shoulder. "I'm sorry. I'll do whatever I can to help you out."

Sirius smiled and gave her a hug. "Thanks Lily!"

Hiding in the shadows, James watched the two interact with each other. Jealousy washed over him and anger flashed across his face. Well, if this was how Black wanted to play, then he would retaliate in an equally harsh way. He chuckled grimly. Black was in for the surprise of his life.

"So what is it exactly what you want?" drawled Malfoy, leaning against the wall. "You've explained the situation, but what do you want us to do?"

Peter sighed. "I want Sirius gone," he said simply, venom dripping from his voice. "Not permanently, but just…not around me."

A small smile flashed across both Malfoy's and Snape's face. "This," Malfoy chuckled softly, "can be arranged.

A.N. I've been such a terrible person in not updating. I'll do my best from now until September. Anyways, I hope you like this chapter. I'm sorry if it's confusing. Please review and thanks for reading.


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter 19

"There's no real way for you to know if I'm lying or not, but what you heard this morning that I apparently said wasn't really me. I don't know what I said, but I'm pretty sure it was very not Sirius-like…Damn, this is gonna suck!"

Sirius was strolling through various hallways of Hogwarts trying to defend himself to his new friends. It all sounded like a load of bullshit-even to him. He just wished he knew what his alter-ego had said. It might help him in his defense. Or maybe it wouldn't. But it would still be nice to know.

Sirius sighed before coming to a halt in front of a suit of armor. Sure Lily had believed him, but she'd always had faith in him. He knew that James had just been waiting for a reason not to trust him. Sirius chuckled bitterly. Well, here was his chance. Not only did James have ample reason not to trust him, but he also had plenty of evidence to turn Remus against him as well. And to think they had been such awesome friends. _Hence past tense_, Sirius thought to himself before he resumed his trek around the school.

He was used to not having any friends. At Durmstrang, he was the outcast-the kid that just was too different to possibly fit in. At home he was the disgrace, the failure of the family. And here…well, here he was just a screw-up, outcast, and traitor. Sirius laughed at the irony of it. He had persuaded his family to let him attend Hogwarts so he could remedy all of that. Instead, he had just combined it all to make one big catastrophe.

Maybe his family was right. Maybe he just wasn't capable of being a normal human being. Maybe he just wasn't meant to function on the same level of humanity. Then again…maybe that was a good thing.

Maybe he would rise above the normal human and be something greater than the normal mind could perceive. Maybe he would be the first person who would be able to finally be centered and confident enough to accept individuality rather than conformity. Maybe…maybe…maybe he was just spouting more bullshit.

Who was he trying to kid? Sirius Black would never be more than the typical human. Selfish, deceitful, cruel, and, ultimately, alone. Upon deeper reflection, Sirius realized he probably deserved it too. After all, failures don't achieve much. And as a failure, Sirius knew that there was nothing left to do but to live for the hopeless. So he started again.

"Hey guys, I know you'll never believe me, but the Slytherins decided they would create a second me with a Polyjuice potion and then trick you guys into believing that I was evil. Oh the irony! Ha, that makes it sound like the Slytherins are brilliant and that they are just daft loonies. Hmm, I guess it's not too far from the truth. Just kidding."

_I am losing my mind,_ he thought to himself. A flash of blond hair made him jerk and look up from the ground. In front of him stood Lucius Malfoy. Anger ground through Sirius and it took all of his willpower to not punch him in the face.

"Hello, Black," Malfoy said smoothly.

"Malfoy," Sirius growled back, restraining ever desire to tear him to pieces.

"I just had an interesting chat with one of your room mates," he sneered. Sirius raised his eyebrows. What was he talking about?

"It seems that we Slytherins are the only ones that want you in Slytherin."

What are you talking about Malfoy?"

"A certain Peter Pettigrew came to me mere hours ago asking me for assistance in your disposal."

Sirius stopped and thought about it. Yes, that did actually seem plausible. Peter Pettigrew had shown no real liking of Sirius after he had actually been accepted by the other Gryffindors. But still…to want him gone?

"Anyways," Malfoy continued, "I gave him my promise that I would help him."

Sirius raised a delicate eyebrow. "Why are you telling me this?"

Malfoy shrugged. "To show honor, something that you really might want to consider attaining."

"Do you really think I'm going to consider you much of a threat, Malfoy?" Sirius spat back.

"Perhaps not," he muttered slyly. "But you'll be a fool not to. However, that is not my concern. You've been warned Black."

And just as smoothly as he had appeared, he vanished into a shadowy passage. Sirius turned and watched as a wall came to a close over the way that he had just left.

"How…?" he muttered, running one of his hands over the door.

"What are you doing?" a harsh voice snapped from behind him. Sirius spun and found himself staring into Remus's yellowish eyes.

"I was just…observing. Yes, observing," Sirius hurriedly said. _Wow…I've been spouting a lot of bullshit today,_ he thought to himself, shaking his head slightly.

"Observing?" questioned Remus. "That sounds like a load of bullshit to me."

And then-for no apparent reason- Sirius burst into raucous laughter. Remus took a step back, as if afraid the insanity would spread.

"That's because it is!" Sirius laughed, doubling over and panting at the force of his own laughter. "It's a load of bullshit. So is everything that has happened today! This entire day is just a load of fucking bullshit! I can't even believe it! Everything! Malfoy, Snape, Peter, Lily…me. Ha! You should have heard some of my earlier explanations. They just sounded so unreal…but then again, so is this entire situation! I can't believe they were that smart. Hell, they weren't smart, they were bloody brilliant! And yet so simplistic that a child could have discovered and unfurled their plot. That's what makes it such bullshit! Brilliant bullshit, but bullshit nonetheless. Ha, this has to be the bullshittiest bullshit ever created by morons!"

Sirius sat down, clutching his sides as his laughter tore at his ribs. Remus stood there staring at the Black heir as if he had lost his mind.

"Sirius…are you alright," he finally managed to mutter out as Sirius's laughter became calmer and eventually came to a halt.

"I didn't do it, Remus," he said earnestly. "I don't know what I did, what I said, or anything, but I didn't do it. It really wasn't me. Which totally contradicts every law of physics. Unless I had a twin…but I don't. The point is, magic totally disproves physics, so it makes it possible for me to say something without it actually being me. And it wasn't me. I don't know who it was-I could guess- but I don't know for sure. And uncertain accusations make me as bad as them. I didn't do it though. Please believe me. I would never want to betray you, James, Lily, or any of you Gryffindors. After all, I'm a Gryffindor too and I have a better sense of loyalty than that…well, if they deserve my loyalty that is. Like my family-yeah, they just suck. But I really wouldn't do anything to hurt you guys…" Sirius looked down, a faint blush gracing his high cheekbones. "You guys are the best friends I've ever had. Heck, you're the _only_ friends I've really had. I couldn't betray you guys like that…Please believe me."

Remus stood there staring at his forlorn friend. "I believe you Sirius," he finally muttered. "I don't know why, but I believe you." Remus rolled his eyes upward. "God help me, I believe you…"

A.N. I suck at updating…and getting to the point. I'm sorry it took so long, but I hope you like this. Yeah…Pirates of the Caribbean 2 is coming out soon. I'm so excited. Yeah…thank you for reading and review…por favor. Gracias!


	20. Chapter 20

Chapter 20

"He didn't do it. I mean, he was just rambling and looked so pathetic that it was impossible not to believe him. I mean, you should have seen him! It was crazy. And he just kept on talking and begging and…yeah, this is total bullshit."

Remus sighed. He had no idea as to what he had just done, he just knew that James was not going to like this and he would not let it slide without a decent explanation. And Remus just happened to be short of decent explanations.

Sirius had just seemed so sincere, so earnest. Plus, there was a lot about this encounter that just didn't make sense. The Slytherins were better at deception than that. They would never allow a plan to be heard by an outsider unless they wanted it to. And this definitely sound like a plan that was meant to be heard by others. It just didn't add up.

Then again, maybe he was just being biased. Maybe he had gotten too attached to the young Black. Not like that-but he added a lot to the little group of friends. He brought a new dynamic level that could never be reached by James or Peter and most certainly not by him. Plus, James and Sirius were good for each other. Rather than acting so impulsively, James would bounce ideas on Sirius, which would result in a well planned impulsive prank.

Remus laughed at the paradox that existed in his two friends. They didn't realize how much they needed each other to be acceptable members of society. Ok, that was an exaggeration, but it was closer to the truth than not. If only there was an easier way to convince James that Sirius was just a victim of unfortunate circumstances.

"Hey, James. You know, the funniest thing happened to me when I was roaming the halls like a bloody loner. I ran across Sirius Black. Yeah, he was feeling up a wall- no, not like that- and then kinda just went insane. But it wasn't _really_ insane, it was more like desperate insane. But yeah, and now I kinda believe him. I don't think he did it…Damn I'm screwed."

"Why are you screwed?" a soft voice came from behind him. He spun around and met the soft green eyes of Lily Evans. She looked at him, inquisitive.

"Oh, it's not really much of anything. Well, not really. I mean, I just have to convince one of my best friends that one of my other best friends really isn't as big an idiot as he claims he is. Because really, he's totally innocent. Or, at least I think so. I mean, a lot of things just don't add up and he seemed so sincere and honest that it was hard not to believe him and he was practically begging me to believe him. Ok, he _was_ begging me to believe him and I do! I believe every single word he said!" Remus took a deep breath. "Now all I have to do is get James to believe every single word."

Lily smiled knowingly. "I knew that you would be easy to convince. I knew you would figure out how absurd the entire situation truly is."

Remus looked at her closely. "You already knew?"

Lily laughed. "Yeah. I ran into Sirius briefly after he finally came to. Later I discovered that the Slytherins had drugged him to fall asleep while they portrayed him by using the Polyjuice Potion. You know," she said, cocking her head to the side, "I never would have given the Slytherins enough credit to do something so brilliant yet simplistic. They are the true geniuses of Hogwarts."

"Funny," Remus muttered, "That's what Sirius said."

"Well, I've got to give credit when credit is due."

They both laughed, enjoying the moment. It had been a long time since the two them had sat down and just had a nice conversation. Ever since James had started his obsessive infatuation, Remus had found it safer to just stay away from Lily Evans. James got let jealous that way. Over that course of time, Remus had forgotten how much he missed her company. She was so intelligent and was such a great listener that it was impossible to not enjoy her company. However, all good things must past, and the moment soon ended, leaving the two of them staring at each other, each remembering better times.

"I hope you manage to get through to James," Lily muttered softly before giving him a quick hug and walking away. Remus watched her leave, a smile adorning his face. Maybe if James hadn't been such a good friend…Maybe if James had had a crush on someone else…Maybe if Remus had been luckier…Maybe if luck had existed in the first place…Maybe he would have been able to give her a kiss good-bye, rather than letting her hug him.

Remus chuckled to himself slightly as he started his search for James. Maybe in a different reality…

Remus shook the thoughts from his head. He had a mission at hand and now was not the time for his traitorous thoughts. If James so much knew that Remus was even thinking about that then he would be in the exact same position as Sirius. Remus sighed in frustration. It was a shame that James was so close minded…and defensive…and arrogant. Oh well, he was a good friend…usually.

"Hey Remus, what's up?" a voice came from behind him. Remus rolled his eyes. Well speak of the devil…

"Hey James," Remus said, turning around to gaze at his friend.

"I've thought of the perfect revenge plan for our good friend Sirius Black," he said, chuckling maniacally.

"Um…about that, James," Remus said, pausing a bit to think of his next words. "I don't think we should get revenge."

"Why not?" James responded, thoroughly confused.

"Because…well because I don't think he's actually guilty," Remus blurt out hurriedly.

An awkward silence fell between the two teenagers as they stared at each other. Well, more accurately, James was trying to stare Remus down, who was cleverly examining the lovely tiling of the floor, the brilliant moving pictures on the wall, and a crack that was running up the side of the bathroom door.

"You don't think he meant what he said?" James finally asked him after a few moments.

"Oh know, I think who _said _them meant it, but I don't think it was Sirius who said it. Even though, technically, it was Sirius."

Another awkward silence fell in between the two boys, this one with James pondering what had just been said and with Remus trying to figure out if he had just made sense.

"Ok, so you're saying that, while it was Sirius who said it, it really wasn't Sirius saying it…?" James finally said slowly.

Remus thought it over before smiling triumphantly. "Exactly! I'm so glad you understand!"

James stood there for a moment, staring at him. "Remus, you've officially lost it." he said, turning and walking away.

"Hey wait!" Remus said. "Alright, to go into details, the Slytherins used Polyjuice potion to make it seem like one of them was Sirius while the real Sirius was asleep due to some sleeping draught that they slipped into his drink. Therefore, the Sirius that you heard was merely some Slytherin swine that thought it would be funny to destroy Sirius's social life."

As James took this information in, he felt hopeful. Maybe his friendship with Sirius wasn't over. Maybe…maybe everything was just a big misunderstanding. Maybe…maybe he wasn't a liar, traitor, or bastard.

"I think," responded James slowly. "I think I'm going to go talk to Sirius about this and figure out what really happened. I'll talk to you later, Remus."

As James walked away, Remus heaved a sigh of relief. That had gone fairly well, if you asked him. Remus nodded in satisfaction. _Alls well that ends well,_ he thought to himself as he walked back to the common room.

A.N. yes…ok, thanks for reading, please review, and don't get hit by lightening (it scares me). Tootles!


	21. Chapter 21

Chapter 21

It's funny how one moment you could hate a person so much and plan on never forgiving them one moment, and the next, you're hoping that you can still be best friends.

James had not been expecting the swell of hope that he had felt when he heard that maybe-just maybe-Sirius had been framed. In all reality, Sirius had become such a good friend in just the past few weeks. The thought of him betraying them like that was almost unbearable for James.

It wasn't long before he found him sitting in the common room. He was by a window and was gazing out at the grounds, appearing to be in deep thought. As I walked closer to him, I heard a loud sigh come from him.

"Hey Sirius," James said calmly, pulling a seat over to where he was sitting. Sirius whipped around and a defensive expression came to his face as he tensed, as if expecting a fight. James couldn't really blame him, but it was kind of disconcerting. "I want to talk to you," James continued, scooting the chair back a little bit should Sirius decide he was fed up with confrontations.

However, he simply sighed again and turned back to the window. "Does it really matter? You're not going to believe me regardless. Hell, I didn't even believe me..." He started chuckling slightly. "You should have heard the countless explanations I came up with, trying to find one that explained the situation sensibly." He laughed again. "They all sounded like absolute bullshit."

James cocked his head to the side. Sirius sounded so forlorn, hopeless. Immediately, James realized why Remus had believed Sirius's crazy tale. He believed because Sirius was telling the truth. His honesty was written in every movement and expression Sirius made. If anything, his eyes told his remorse and confusion better than anything else.

"Well, try me," challenged James. Sirius turned back and stared at James for a moment before shaking his head slightly.

"It's so crazy. I don't know what happened…well, not for sure anyways. I don't know what I said that you overheard but I'm pretty sure I didn't say it. I mean, it was me but not really. They must have used Polyjuice potion or something like it to find someone to look like me while I was unconscious somewhere. So while I was clearly being traitorous, I was really asleep somewhere." He paused, gazing over James's face, searching for acceptance. "I'm sorry, James, but that's the best I can come up with. I understand if you hate me. I mean, there's really no proof…you'll just have to trust me."

After another moment, a smile lit up James's face. "I believe you, Sirius."

"I understand. I won't bother you any- wait, what? You believe me?"

James laughed at his friend's apparent confusion. "Yes, I believe you. I believed you before you even started talking. Remus explained everything to me and at first I wanted to hear it from you, but when I saw you…I don't know."

Raising his eyebrows, Sirius gazed at James as if he'd gone insane. "So…just like that, you believe me and everything's forgiven?"

"Well, yeah, except for the 'forgiven' part, cuz there's really nothing to forgive considering you were innocent."

The two teenagers laughed slightly. As their laughter died down, Sirius glanced out the window and then back at James. "Thanks, James."

"For what?" a confused James asked.

A small smile adorned Sirius's face. "For taking a leap of faith."

A couple hours later…

James was sitting in the common room trying to catch up on his history reading. James rolled his slightly as he read about the goblin wars of 1290 B.C. He couldn't believe that, after all these years of not doing anything, Professor Binns was actually going to give them a test.

Just as he was about to doze off, the portrait door opened and Peter walked in slowly, gazing around the room as he did so. As his eyes fell upon James, a small smile lit up his face and he walked over to his friend.

"Hey James," he said, sitting down across from him. "Whatcha doing?"

James rolled his eyes and responded, "I'm trying to understand why the goblin wars are really important. And if they are, why do I have to know about them? I just don't understand how this is going to help me in the scheme of things." He yawned and continued, "I think I need a nap. Yes, that's a good idea." He stood up and began walking to their room, and then stopped. "We have a test though. Damn…"

Walking back to the couch, he flung himself upon it and threw his arm over his eyes. "So what's up Peter?" he asked, his voice slightly muffled.

Peter shrugged. "I heard about what happened with Black. It's really a shame. We should have figured that he would betray us. I mean, he _is _a Black. We can't really expect him to change overnight."

James turned on his side and looked at Peter, confusion crossing his face. "How'd you find out? And more importantly, why are you so anti-Sirius right now? You were the one that wanted us to befriend him in the first place."

"Well, that was before he showed his true color: black," responded Peter defensively. For some reason that he couldn't understand, James was defending Sirius. It made no sense, considering he had just "betrayed" them.

James rolled his eyes and resumed his previous position with his arm across his eyes. "Yeah, well that's just a lie. He didn't do anything. It was those evil Slytherins. It was so brilliantly simplistic that it was only too easy to be deceived. Oh well, point is, Sirius didn't betray anyone. Well, at least not anyone in Gryffindor."

"Oh," Peter muttered, trying to hide his disappointment without much success. "Well, lucky us then, I guess. I'm so glad that he didn't betray us after all."

James rolled over and looked at Peter with raised eyebrows. His voice had been so full of sarcasm that it almost seemed as if he didn't like Sirius. But then again, that was ridiculous, considering he was the one who had first befriended him. "Are you okay, Peter?" he asked, slightly worried.

"Hmm? Oh, yeah, I'm fine James," Peter replied. "I think I'm going to go to bed, I'm exhausted. It's been a long day." With that said, Peter stood up and walked to the staircase leading up to their room. James sat up and watched him leave, uncertain as to what he should make of that conversation.

The portrait door opened again and Sirius and Remus walked in together, talking about something.

"Hey James," Sirius called out before walking over and sitting where Peter had just been. Remus followed and sat down next to James.

"What's up?" asked Remus, seeing James's confused expression.

"I don't know," responded James. "Peter's kinda creeping me out. I just had the strangest conversation with him and I'm not sure what to make of it or what to do about it."

"Well you know," Sirius said, a smile spreading across his face. "The only thing to do is jump over the moon."

A.N. Thanks for reading, please review…or not. Anyways, I hope you liked it. If anyone has any brilliant plans for the Slytherins, I would totally appreciate hearing them cuz I've totally gone brain dead on creative ideas. Thanks.


	22. Chapter 22

Chapter 22

_Hello, I'm Sirius Black. Okay, I know that this is just a journal, and obviously I know who I am, but I just thought it would be good to reiterate it. Damn, now I sound like a total poof. Ha. _

_Anyways, I've decided to keep a journal to update on day to day life. Alright, my life probably isn't interesting enough for a daily update, but I can dream. Also, I figure it might be a good way to have closure…maybe I'll get over a few things if I write them down. Maybe not. Anyways, to fill you in on my life, I am 15 years old, attending Hogwarts, and have three good friends, James Potter, Remus Lupin, and Peter Pettigrew. _

_I used to attend the dark wizard school, Durmstrang. I got expelled though, for believing that muggle born children are equal with purebloods. Cuz they are. However, the professors at Durmstrang decided that they didn't like me believing that and tried several methods to beat it out of me, sometimes literally. _

_Really, thinking about the punishments at Durmstrang kinda scares me. It's like I'm back there. They had crazy things too. Sometimes, they would hang students from the ceiling by their wrists. That one hurt quite a bit. And they left us hanging there for sometimes hours at a time. I think the most time I spent attached to ceiling was 2 hours and 37 minutes. By the time they got me down, my wrists were scraped raw and were pink and swollen. Not a pleasant experience. _

_I heard that Dumbledore doesn't believe in those kinds of methods of punishment. Quite frankly, that's a relief, although I know that Filch would like to reinstate them. Ha, like he's got a chance. _

_If there's one thing Dumbledore has that no one at Durmstrang did, it's a heart. Lucky me. Of course, I'm still disowned by my family, still hated by the Slytherins, and not yet completely trusted by the Gryffindors. Oh well, things will get better…right? I mean, they have to…_

"Hey Sirius," exclaimed a chipper Remus as he entered their dormitory. "What are you up to?"

Sirius hastily shoved his journal under his pillow, not wanting to appear more poof-ish than he already felt. "Not much, just…um, studying a bit."

Remus raised his eyebrows slightly, but didn't question any farther. Instead, he turned around and began to rummage through his trunk. "Have you seen my…oh, never mind, I found it," he began and then finished. When he turned around, he had a book in his hand and was heading back out of the dormitory. He stopped however at the doorway and turned back around to face Sirius.

"Hey Sirius," he said softly. Sirius glanced up at him and was immediately filled with confusion. On Remus's face lay an uncertainty, as if he was having an internal debate. Eventually he sighed and came back towards Sirius and sat on the edge of his bed, staring down at his hands and twiddling with his book.

"What's wrong?" asked Sirius, seriously getting concerned for his friend. Whatever was bothering him must have been severe, for Sirius had never seen Remus so upset over something. "You know you can trust me right?"

Remus sighed and finally looked up to meet his eyes. "I certainly hope so." His gaze went back to his book and then out towards the window. His face got a far away expression and he appeared to have zoned out. Sirius was about to poke him when Remus began to speak.

"Muggles and muggle borns are equal with pureblood wizards. Half-blood wizards are equal with muggles, muggle borns, and purebloods. Right? Of course. They're only human. We're _all_ only human…theoretically. But some of us aren't _only_ human. Which doesn't really make sense if you try to analyze it. But we're wizards, we know the difference between only human and not _only _human…right?"

Sirius nodded and then shook his head. "Remus, what the hell are you talking about? I don't understand what being only human has to do with anything. If you're trying to point out the imperfections in humanity, then you're only preaching to the choir. If you're trying to point out some flaw in me, could you please just make it to the point?"

Remus sighed and shook his head while rolling his eyes. "No, I'm not trying to point out anything related to humanity or you... I'm trying to…Sirius, what do you think about werewolves?"

Sirius shrugged, contemplating the question. "I guess I think they're dangerous creatures. Once a month that is. I guess during the rest of the time they would just be normal human beings. I guess. I don't know, I've never met one. Werewolves weren't admitted to Durmstrang and I can't imagine Dumbledore would allow one here. Parents would never approve of a werewolf attending Hogwarts. Right?"

Remus sighed, doubting whether or not he should tell him. This was such a delicate situation and Sirius had really not given him any reason to tell him. However, there was no real way to tell how he would react unless he told him. Which meant risking his secret being told to the rest of the school and losing a good friend. But Sirius was smart and would be sure to notice his disappearance as well as the disappearance of James and Peter. There really wasn't much of a choice.

"Wrong," Remus muttered softly. Sirius looked up at him in surprise and then understanding began to ease its way into his large grey eyes.

"You mean you…Remus, you're a werewolf?" he said in a hushed voice, awe apparent in his face and tone.

Remus nodded somberly. "Yes I am. I have been one since I was a little boy, about five I think. It was as big a surprise to as it is to you that Dumbledore would admit a werewolf to his school, but don't worry. He's taken all the necessary precautions for the full moon. Do you know the whomping willow?" Sirius nodded numbly. "Yes, well, there's a way to immobilize it and then it leads to a house and that's where I transform and stay for the night. It's not very pleasant, but neither is being a werewolf."

"But why did you tell me?" Sirius asked after gaining his voice back. "I mean, I'm flattered, really, but that's a huge secret to tell a person after only knowing them for a month. And really, it's none of my business."

Smiling slightly, he answered, "I told you because you're smart and would've figured it out on your own and I figured I owed it to you to be a true friend and to just come out and tell you the truth."

"After sidetracking a lot," Sirius joked, trying to lighten up the atmosphere.

"Well, what did you want me to do?" asked an exasperated Remus. "I mean, just saying, 'hey Sirius, I'm a werewolf', kind of lacks the necessary tact."

Sirius laughed. "Good point."

Also laughing, Remus decided to reveal the rest of their story. "Also, I'm not sure James would want me telling you this, but he and Peter are animagi."

His eyes widening in an impressed fashion, Sirius muttered, "Really? Hmm, that's interesting. What are they?"

"Well, James is a stag and Peter is a rat. They usually accompany me on the full moons. They kinda keep me sane in my wolfish form. Well…as sane as possible I guess."

"Hmm, can I come along?" Sirius asked eagerly.

Remus raised his eyebrows. "Did you miss the part where I said that James and Peter are animagi and are therefore able to accompany me or did you decide to ignore me right then?"

"No, I mean, I could come because I'm an animagus as well." Remus must have had a totally flabbergasted expression on his face because Sirius chuckled and continued, "At Durmstrang, I felt it was necessary to be able to travel through the castle in a less recognizable form. Therefore, the only real solution was becoming an animagus. It took years to accomplish, but it was well worth it. I mean, professors don't look twice when you're a dog. Although the occasional kick did suck."

"So you're telling me that you became an animagus simply to avoid professors? Wouldn't there have been an easier way to achieve invisibility?"

Pausing to think over the past years, Sirius nodded slightly, a smile stretching across his thin face. "Probably, but being an animagus is cooler anyways."

"So what are you then?"

"Me? I'm a dog. They call me Padfoot!"

A.N. That is so unreal that it sickens me. I suck at writing this. Dang. Oh well, I'm sorry that you have to endure this crazy filler that really has no real relevance except that Sirius now knows Remus's secret. And he has a journal now…yeah, that's how I'm gonna tell about past experiences at Durmstrang. Yeah. Anyways, thanks for reading and I'd appreciate it if you'd review, although I don't blame you if you don't. Thanks and later.


	23. Chapter 23

Chapter 23 

_Okay, so when I said I was going to write in this "journal" thing everyday, I meant every other week...and a few days. To be completely honest, I don't really know why I decided to start a "journal" thing. It seems kinda pointless and has not helped me solve the problems of the world. Or my own for that matter. Then again, to be fair, I haven't really written in this yet._

_Maybe I should... If I ever feel inspired to do so, I will._

Sirius closed his journal, nodding in satisfaction. So he didn't have anything interesting to write down, at least he'd bothered to pick it up and try. But now, he had better things to do. Well, not really, but anything was better than sitting around and writing about his feelings and life.

So, to remedy the fact that he'd been sitting around for half an hour trying to think of something to write, Sirius stood up and decided to go on a quest for his friends. Or food, whichever he came across first. However, he hoped that he came across a friend first.

It wasn't that Sirius Black was a coward, oh no. That wasn't even close to the case. But Sirius had discovered that it was wise to walk around the hallways of Hogwarts with another person. At least if your name was Sirius Black. After the incident a couple of weeks ago, Sirius had been wary about walking alone and was skeptical about all of the Slytherins' motives.

"Hey Sirius," James greeted from the couch by the fireplace when he saw Sirius walking down the stairs. "Where are you going?"

Sirius shrugged and threw himself into the chair across from James. "I think," Sirius began lazily, "I think we should plan a prank so...so spectacular that it will live in total infamy."

"And what do you suggest?" James asked, looking up from his transfiguration textbook, carelessly waving around his wand.

"I don't know, but it's almost Halloween and now would be the excellent time to start planning something."

James looked thoughtful at this. It _was _almost Halloween. That meant that, not only could they prank people, but they could also _frighten _them. Frightful pranking... There was great potential to be had.

elsewhere in the castle

"We have to think of a foolproof plan to get Sirius Black on our side," hissed Severus, pacing in the Slytherin common room. Bellatrix, Lucius, and Narcissa sat around him, each of them attempting to think up a worthy plan.

Bellatrix sighed. "I can't think of anything short of kidnapping and potential murder."

"It would certainly make things easier," muttered Narcissa, closing her eyes in frustration.

"Except Sirius Black would make a powerful ally and therefore killing him would not be in our best interests," snapped Lucius, angry at the constant joking around.

"It's a shame he's not as easy as that Pettigrew fellow," Narcissa said after a few minutes passed in silence. The three other Slytherins turned and looked at her, eyebrows raised. She elaborated, "I mean, he just came to us, asking for our help in alienating Black from the Gryffindors. It didn't even take any persuasion from us to get him to turn against Black."

"Pettigrew," Lucius sighed, "is motivated by jealousy and greed, nothing more."

"Yeah," scoffed Bellatrix, "it's a surprise that he's not in Slytherin."

"That sniveling coward?" laughed Severus. "Please, he's a disgrace to Hogwarts, let alone what he would be in Slytherin."

Narcissa cackled at that. "What a waste. It's a wonder he got accepted at all."

"As fascinating as this conversation is, Pettigrew is not the topic of discussion. Black is." Lucius stood up. "Now, I have a plan that might work. However, I hope that none of you expect this to be easy. If you do, then we have already failed." Lucius turned to walk up to the dormitory and then turned back. "And we cannot afford to fail."

elsewhere in the castle

"I think he's gay."

Lily looked up from her books as Angie sat down across from her, a set look on her face. Lily was in the library, having decided that it was the only place that she could guarantee that Potter would never show up. She was too conflicted about how she felt towards him to want to see him at all. However, that didn't guarantee that her friends (namely Angie) wouldn't seek her there with crazy ideas or propositions.

However, this was outlandish, even for Angie.

Lily turned to her friend with an air of forced patience. "And why," she began slowly, "do you believe he's gay? And who for that matter?"

"Sirius Black," she responded matter-of-factly.

"What?" Lily asked incredulously. "How in the world did you get to that conclusion?"

"Because," she said, as if that explained it all. When Lily continued to look at her as if she had lost her mind, she continued, "Because I have fallen madly in love with him and therefore notice all the time that he doesn't spend paying attention to me."

Lily rolled her eyes. "Now you sound slightly pathetic. No, I take that back. You sound _totally _pathetic. I mean, Sirius was the one who asked if you wanted to have a "study date" to begin with."

"And he stood me up to that," she reasoned.

"Yeah, but it wasn't his fault. There were other...complications. But he wanted to be there."

"No," Angie said, shaking her head. "If he had wanted to be there, he would have rescheduled."

Lily rolled her eyes again. "Sometimes I wish I'd found normal friends who didn't have a new crazy notion every other day."

"First off," Angie said with mock indignation, "this is not a crazy notion; in fact, it's very realistic and plausible. Second off, if I didn't have consistent crazy notions, you wouldn't love me nearly as much as you do." Angie stood up and picked up her bag and started to walk away, only to turn back and stare at Lily. "Well, are you coming?"

Lily laughed softly and looked back down at her book. She had read the same page at least three times since she had arrived at the library, her mind having been consumed with thoughts of James Potter. She looked back up at Angie, who was waiting for a response.

Lily closed her books and stood up to follow her. So she hadn't been overly productive. There was always tomorrow. Hopefully she'd run into James and he'd ask her out in an obnoxious manner to remind her of her great hatred towards him.

elsewhere in the castle

"She thinks he's gay."

"That seems slightly absurd."

"Try totally absurd."

Remus shrugged. "In the end, I don't really care about Sirius's sexual orientation. It doesn't really affect me much."

"I just think it's...interesting," Lily said thoughtfully, staring off into space. "I mean, the more I think about it, what if Angie's theory really isn't that absurd."

"I don't see why it should be," Remus replied, turning the page to his book and then jotting down a few notes on a piece of parchment.

"I've never met a gay person. I wonder what they're like."

"Oh, I imagine they're just like you or I just with a different outlook on sex."

Lily nodded and then stood up. "You're probably right. You usually are." She stretched her arms out in front of her and yawned. "Well, I'm going to bed." She walked towards the stairs and said "good night" over her shoulder.

Remus chuckled slightly and went back to his reading. It was going to be a long year.

A.N. Well, I kinda procrastinated in writing this. But it's up now, and I'm quite proud of this chapter. I hope you enjoy it and if you feel moved to do so, review. Please and thank you!


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